rs  i    i  r>  i      n 


THOUGHTS  ON 
'AT  THE  FEET  OF  THE  MASTER' 


THOUGHTS  ON 
"AT  THE  FEET  OF  THE  MASTER" 


BT 

GEORGE  S.  ARUNDALE 

Of  the  National  Educational  Service  (India) 


Theosophical  Publishing  House 

(American  Branch) 

Krotona, 
Hollywood,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

1919 


w 


PKEFATORY    NOTE 

The  following  chapters  are  reprinted  from  a  series  of  Cor- 
respondence Studies  on  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  which  I  have 
been  writing  for  the  last  two  years  on  behalf  of  members  of 
the  Order  of  the  Servants  of  the  Star. 

I  have  left  the  studies  practically  as  I  originally  wrote 
them — permitting  myself  only  a  verbal  alteration  here  and 
there.  There  may  be  a  certain  amount  of  repetition,  since  I 
began  writing  the  series  in  Bude,  Cornwall,  in  1914,  and  only 
finished  them  in  Adyar,  Madras,  in  1918.  And  there  has  been 
no  time  to  rewrite  them  or  even  to  submit  them  to  a  thorough 
revision. 

But  some  of  my  friends  think  them  helpful,  and  at  least 
they  may  draw  the  attention  of  their  readers  to  the  won- 
derful book  which  inspired  them.  For  myself,  I  can  truly  say 
that  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  is  my  constant  companion, 
guide,  and  mentor.  Ever  by  my  side  is  the  little  copy  given 
me  by  my  young  teacher.  That  which  he  heard,  I  am  trying 
to  understand ;  and  I  find  in  the  priceless  words  in  which  the 
teaching  is  clothed  all  that,  indeed  far,  far  more  than,  I  need 
for  discipline  and  training.  At  tjie  Feet  of  the  Master  has  an 
appropriate  message  for  every  human  being  who  at  all  strives 
to  lead  an  unselfish  life. 

I  earnestly  commend  it  to  teachers  and  students  of  all  faiths 
and  of  all  races.  With  the  companion  volume  Education  as 
Service,  a  teacher  or  student  has  a  complete  guide  for  daily 
life.  And  the  truths  these  two  great  volumes  enshrine  are  the 
truths  upon  the  recognition  and  following  of  which  all  true 
citizenship  depends.  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  and  Education 
as  Service  are  Heralds  of  the  New  Age,  Signs  of  the  Coming 
Times,  and  should  be  carefully  studied  by  those  who  seek  to 
co-operate  with  the  future,  and  who  are  not  slaves  of  preju- 
dice and  custom. 

Adyar,  Madras,  S.  George  S.  Arundale 

11918. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Giving  of  the  Teachings 5 

Alcyone's  Foreword 18 

The  Qualifications  for  Discipleship 27 

There  is  Time  to  Achieve  Perfection 38 

The  Living  of  the  Life 47 

Training  of  the  Body 59 

The  Astral  and  Mental  Bodies 76 

The  Hidden  Laws  of  Nature 86 

"A  Small  Thing" 92 

Service  as  Education 100 

Discrimination       .       .              106 

Desirelessness 114 

Desirelessness  (Concluded) 122 

The  Six  Points  of  Conduct 133 

The  Six  Points  of  Conduct  (Continued)     ....  141 

The  Six  Points  of  Conduct  (Continued)     ....  147 

The  Six  Points  of  Conduct  (Continued)     ....  156 

The  Six  Points  of  Conduct  (Concluded)     ....  165 

Love 171 

Sins  against  Love 178 

Tests  of  Love 185 

The  Growth  of  Love        .        .......  193 

Love  and  Service 198 

Conclusion 203 


CHAPTER    I 
THE  GIVING  OF  THE  TEACHINGS 

In  many  ways  the  little  book  we  are  going  to  study  to- 
gether is  the  most  important  gift  the  world  has  received  for 
hundreds  of  years,  for  the  words  are  from  the  lips  of  a  mighty 
Teacher,  known  to  the  world  as  Pythagoras  and  to  some  of  us 
as  the  blessed  Master  Koot  Hoomi,  the  Master  K.  H.,  as  He 
is  generally  called  in  Theosophical  literature.  I  must  take  for 
granted  that  you  know  who  Masters  are — if  not  you  will  find 
plenty  of  information  in  such  a  book  as  Herbert  Whyte  's  The 
Great  Teachers,  or  Mrs.  Besant's  The  Masters  and  the  Way  to 
Them.  Let  us  proceed  to  see  how  these  instructions  apply,  so 
that  we  may  follow  them  intelligently. 

In  the  Preface,  Mrs.  Besant  writes:  "The  teachings 
.  .  .  were  given  to  him  by  his  Master  in  preparing  him 
for  Initiation."  Several  questions  arise  here:  How  were 
they  given  to  him?  Where  were  they  given  to  him?  What 
is  Initiation? 


How  the  Teachings  Were  Given 


Question  No.  1.  You  probably  know  that  some  people 
are  able  to  be  quite  useful  on  the  astral  plane — I  must  leave 
the  explanation  of  this  term  to  some  friend,  if  you  do  not  un- 
derstand it — and  try  to  help  in  all  good  work  as  much  as 
they  can.  Many  of  you  who  are  reading  these  lines  probably 
help  very  much  when  the  physical  body  is  asleep  and  the 
astral  body  is  the  vehicle  in  which  for  the  time  you  are  living 
and  working.  But  there  is  quite  as  much  learning  as  helping, 
and  many  young  people,  or  those  who  are  not  yet  very  far 
advanced,  gather  round  some  one  more  advanced  and  learn 
much  that  is  not  only  useful  to  them  on  the  astral  plane  but 
helpful  on  the  physical  plane  also.     These  elders  in  turn  sit 


at  the  feet*  of  someone  who  knows  yet  more,  while  a  few  will 
be  receiving  instructions  from  the  Masters  Themselves. 

Now  Alcyone — to  give  the  name  used  to  mark  the  soul 
apart  from  the  various  bodies  he  has  been  wearing  life  after 
life — is  one  of  these  elders,  "  young  in  body  verily,  but  not 
in  Soul/'  as  Mrs.  Besant  tells  us  in  the  Preface.  Marked  out 
for  a  special  destiny,  he  is  privileged  to  receive  instruction  di- 
rect from  the  Master's  lips,  and  he  is  told  to  write  down  each 
morning  the  phrases  which  sum  up  and  express  the  teachings 
he  has  received  during  the  night.  Alcyone  is  in  a  special 
position  because  he  was  already  a  pupil  of  the  Master  when 
these  particular  teachings  were  begun,  and  they  were,  there- 
fore, intended  to  help  him  to  reach  quickly  the  next  stage  of 
his  spiritual  journey — Initiation.  The  language,  it  will  be 
noticed,  is  very  simple,  for  the  Master  was,  in  this  case,  ad- 
dressing Himself  to  a  physical  brain  which  was  still  very 
young,  and  so  was  careful  to  speak  in  such  terms  that  the 
young  brain  might  remember  and  understand  the  next  day. 
Every  sentence,  indeed,  is  exceedingly  clear,  because  Alcyone 
did  not  then  know  much  English — the  teachings  were  given 
in  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1909 — and  only  a  very  little 
was  taught  at  a  time,  partly  in  order  that  he  might  remember 
all  that  was  said  and  partly  in  order  that  he  might  practice 
each  suggestion  as  it  came.  Out  of  the  body  he  knew  much 
more,  of  course;  but  each  lower  body  is  a  limitation  of  the 
one  next  above  (of  less  dense  matter,  perhaps  I  should  say,  as 
there  is  no  " above' '  or  M below"),  and  the  teaching  had  to 
be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  lower  bodies,  so  that  they 
might  be  brought  under  perfect  control. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  Master's  physical  body  was 
asleep  when  He  gave  the  teachings.  Probably  the  Master  re- 
tires early,  for  He  can  use  all  His  bodies  perfectly,  and 
therefore,  functions  as  easily  out  of  the  physical  body  as  in — 
perhaps  more  easily,  since  the  matter  of  other  bodies  is  less 
dense.  If  so,  as  Alcyone  would  not  be  at  the  Master's  house 
until,  perhaps,  nine  or  even  later,  the  teaching  would  be 

*  An  expression  which  figuratively  expresses  "learning  from"  and  in  the 
East  is  literally  true. 


given  by  the  Master  in  a  subtle  body  and  would,  of  course,  be 
received  by  Alcyone  astrally,  i.e.,  on  the  astral  plane.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  may  have  been  occasions  on  which  the 
Master  was  still  using  the  physical  body,  in  which  case  you 
may  imagine  Him  seated  in  the  big  arm  chair  in  the  large 
room  where  He  often  receives  visitors,  or  perhaps  in  His 
study  adjoining;  Alcyone  receiving  the  instructions  "at  His 
Feet."  To  the  Master,  all  planes  are  equally  accessible,  and 
though  awake  in  His  physical  body  He  would  see  and  talk  to 
astral  Alcyone  as  well  as  He  could  see  and  talk  to  any  one  on 
the  physical  plane.  He  would  probably  withdraw  His  at- 
tention from  the  physical  plane  to  the  astral,  simultaneously 
bringing  into  play  the  organs  of  His  subtle  body.  Physical 
objects  would  then  be  thrown  out  of  focus,  just  as  nearer  ob- 
ects  appear  vague  when  we  are  looking  at  objects  far  off. 
Perhaps  the  Master  experiences  no  dimness  with  regard  to 
objects  at  which  He  is  not  looking;  I  do  not  know.  At  any 
rate,  our  astral  Alcyone  would  be  as  real  to  Him  as,  perhaps 
more  real  than,  any  physical  object  near  Him — the  sofas  or 
the  table;  and  He  would  talk  to  His  pupil  using  the  astral 
plane  as  the  medium  for  His  voice. 

Where  the  Teachings  Were  Given 

Question  No.  2.  I  have  already  told  you  that  the  teachings 
were  probably  given  at  the  Master's  house  in  Tibet.  If  you 
turn  to  the  map  of  Asia  and  find  Tibet  north  of  the  great 
Himalayan  range,  you  may  see  the  name  of  a  town  called 
Shigatse.  In  the  vicinity  of  this  town  the  Master  lives  in  His 
physical  body,  and  so  Alcyone,  living  right  down  in  the  south 
of  India  at  Adyar,  quite  close  to  Madras,  could  hardly  re- 
ceive the  teaching  in  his  physical  body.  Adyar  is  a  village 
whose  main  distinction  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Theosophi- 
cal  Society — situated  on  a  large  piece  of  land  facing  the  sea 
and  bordered  by  the  Adyar  river.  In  this  headquarters  is  a 
fine  building  containing  rooms  for  various  workers  and,  on 
the  first  floor,  the  abode  of  the  President  of  the  Society  to- 
gether with  a  few  other  rooms  appropriated  to  the  use  of 


various  members  of  the  headquarters  staff.  Close  to  Mrs. 
Besant's  rooms  lived  Alcyone  and  his  younger  brother,  fur- 
ther off  being  Mr.  Leadbeater's  big  room,  and  thence,  night 
after  night,  the  physical  bodies  were  left  asleep  while  their 
owners  sailed  away  over  the  snow-topped  peaks  of  the  Him- 
alayas to  their  Master's  home.  A  long  journey,  which  would 
occupy  many  days  if  the  physical  body  had  to  do  the  travel- 
ling, but  almost  as  quick  as  thought  for  inhabitants  of  the  as- 
tral plane.  No  doubt  our  travellers  stopped  on  their  way  to 
look  at  scenery,  or  perhaps  to  help  someone  in  trouble,  but  it 
would  not  do  to  be  late  at  the  Master's  house  for  He  is  ex- 
ceedingly busy  and  must  not  be  inconvenienced  by  our  care- 
lessness. Probably  the  teaching  did  not  take  a  very  long  time 
— about  fifteen  minutes;  so,  when  the  party  was  dismissed, 
the  rest  of  the  night  would  be  filled  with  all  kinds  of  useful 
experience  in  the  training  of  Alcyone's  astral  and  other 
bodies  for  future  work.  At  about  5:30  in  the  morning  the 
physical  body  would  be  awakened  by  its  owner,  and,  after  a 
bath  and  some  food,  and  then  exercises  and  study,  Alcyone 
would  go  into  Mrs.  Besant's  room  to  take  his  seat  at  a  table 
in  the  verandah.  There  he  wrote  out  very  carefully  by  him- 
self that  which  had  been  taught  him  by  the  Master,  the  Master 
having  summed  up  in  a  single  sentence  or  so  the  gist  of  the 
quarter  of  an  hour's  teaching.  Thus  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  came  gradually  to  be  written,  "the  greater  part  .  . 
a  reproduction  of  the  Master's  own  words;  that  which  is  not 
such  a  verbal  reproduction  is  the  Master's  thought  clothed  in 
the  pupil's  words." 

What  Initiation  Is 

Question  No.  3.  "Preparing  him  for  Initiation."  What 
does  this  mean  ?  Well,  we  must  begin  some  way  back  if  we  are 
to  understand  what  Initiation  means.  I  hope  you  all 
know  that  the  real  "ourselves"  behind  the  bodies  we  happen 
to  be  using  in  this  particular  life  are  immortal  sparks  of  the 
flame  of  God,  and  that  each  little  spark  which  is  one  of  us  has 
been  through  the  mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  be- 

8 


fore  entering  the  human  kingdom  to  which  we  now  belong. 
In  the  early  stages,  millions  of  years  ago  and  not  on  this  earth 
at  all,  the  little  sparks  were  not  so  much  separated  off  from 
one  another  as  they  now  are  in  the  human  kingdom;  they 
were  not,  to  use  a  difficult  word,  " self-conscious' '  or  alive  to 
the  world  around  them.  In  the  mineral  kingdom  these  little 
sparks  were  hardly  awake  at  all.  In  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
however,  they  were  somewhat  less  sleepy ;  while  in  the  animal 
kingdom  they  really  began  to  stir  about.  So  much  so  that  in- 
dividual sparks  began  to  live  separated  existences  instead  of 
being  content,  as  heretofore,  to  share  their  experiences  with 
brother-sparks  and  live  a  common  life.  You  have  perhaps 
noticed  that  while  most  animals  of  a  particular  species  have 
many  peculiarities  in  common,  some  have  very  distinct  indi- 
vidualities of  their  own.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  road 
which  is  leading  them  direct  to  the  human  kingdom,  and  then 
comes  a  time  in  the  case  of  each  animal  when  it  begins  to  live 
so  definite  a  life  of  its  own  that  the  spark  inhabiting  it  finally 
breaks  off  from  fellow-sparks  and,  to  use  a  Theosophical 
phrase,  "becomes  individualised,"  i.e.,  enters  the  human  king- 
dom. 

The  First  Step 

Now  this  individualisation  is  the  first  great  step  made  by 
the  divine  spark  on  its  way  to  the  realisation  of  what  divinity 
really  means.  The  first  definite  step  on  the  road  to  perfection 
has  been  taken  when  the  soul,  if  I  may  use  the  term,  traverses 
the  bridge  that  leads  from  the  animal  to  the  human  kingdom, 
that  separates  definite  individual  existence  from  a  more  or 
less  conscious  existence  shared  with  other  souls.  In  the  lower 
kingdoms  of  nature,  souls  are  joined  in  groups  according  to 
their  kind,  and  the  stage  of  separated  existence,  when  the 
soul  in  the  animal  enters  the  human  kingdom  is,  as  I  have 
said,  the  first  great  step  on  the  path  of  evolution. 

The  Second  Step 

The  second  great  step  is  when  the  human  being  at  last 
begins  to  develop  a  definite  sense  of  right  and  wrong  and  to 


realise,  however  faintly,  that  wrong  must  not  be  done,  while 
right  must  be  followed.  This  may  be  called  the  dawning  of 
conscience,  aroused  through  ages  of  experience  that  happiness 
follows  the  less  selfish  action  while  pain  follows  the  more  sel- 
fish action.  At  last  the  individual  begins  to  realise  that  he 
cannot  live  for  himself  alone,  and  the  God  within  him  thank- 
fully looks  upon  a  vehicle  gradually  tuning  itself  to  the  divine 
harmony.  The  battle  is  by  no  means  over.  Indeed  it  is  hard- 
ly begun ;  but  the  man 's  face  is  set  towards  the  goal  and  the 
higher  nature  begins  at  last  to  receive  conscious  response  to 
the  training  and  moulding  of  its  lower  vestures,  so  that  both 
become  better  instruments  in  the  plan  of  Him  Who  is  our 
world. 

Each  of  these  steps  is  an  expansion  of  consciousness,  the 
soul — from  having  been  but  an  unconscious  cell  in  the  body  of 
God — begins  to  awaken  and  to  take  the  first  definite  steps 
towards  becoming  a  God  itself ;  and  this  is  God's  object  in 
spreading  self -consciousness  in  each  part  of  the  organism  that 
is  Himself. 

The  Third  Step — Initiation 

Now  Initiation  is  the  third  great  step — another  expan- 
sion of  consciousness,  a  further  growth  of  the  soul.  The  sec- 
ond great  step  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  awakening  of  con- 
science. But  conscience  had  to  become  definitely  established 
as  the  dominant  factor  in  the  man's  nature,  and  he  had  yet 
to  learn  to  realise  that  while  self-preservation  might  be  a  nec- 
essary law  at  a  certain  stage,  self-sacrifice  is  the  only  true 
guide  for  the  soul  eager  to  know  itself  divine.  Indeed,  while 
conscience  had  doubtless  been  aroused,  the  individual  had  yet 
to  realise  himself  and  his  powers,  had  yet  to  assert  himself 
and,  for  the  time,  to  become  entirely  centered  in  himself  and 
his  individual  growth.  In  other  words,  he  had  to  practise  his 
conscience  in  all  kinds  of  ways.  To  borrow  a  phrase  from  Mr. 
Leadbeater,  he  had  to  become  "the  centre  of  his  circle,"  to 
learn  the  powers  of  the  lower  vehicles  and  their  limitation,  and 
to  apply  his  conscience  to  their  use.  At  last,  developing 
slowly  his  various  faculties,  and  gradually  coming  to  the  con- 

10 


elusion  that  self-sacrifice  brings  more  lasting  happiness  than 
self-seeking,  he  begins  to  live  for  the  world  instead  of  ex- 
pecting the  world  to  live  for  him.  Now  and  again  he  doubt- 
less lapses  into  the  more  selfish  mode  of  living,  but  unselfish- 
ness begins  to  predominate  over  selfishness;  and  when  the 
Masters  see  that  nothing  will  in  the  long  run  affect  his  de- 
termination to  serve  the  world,  one  of  Them,  who  has  been 
watching  the  man  for  lives,  determines  to  give  him  special 
teaching  so  that  he  may  quickly  gain  added  power  to  help. 

Discipleship 

The  individual  enters  into  an  apprenticeship  in  the 
school  of  a  particular  Master  and  begins  a  series  of  very  hard 
but  very  helpful  lives. 

Perhaps  you  know  that  the  government  of  the  world  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  graded  band  of  Mighty  Brethren  Whom  we 
call  the  Great  White  Lodge — using  the  word  " Lodge' '  in  its 
masonic  sense  of  an  organised  fraternity.  At  Their  head 
stands  the  Great  Euler  of  the  world  and  around  Him  are 
grouped  His  Ministers,  some  functioning  as  organisers,  rul- 
ers, heads  of  the  races  of  the  world,  others  as  teachers  of  re- 
ligions, others  guiding  the  various  continents  and  countries, 
others  influencing  non-human  races  such  as  Angels  and  Devas, 
yet  others  acting  as  assistants  to  these  Greater  Ones  and  pre- 
paring to  take  Their  places  when  They  shall  have  passed  on  to 
still  higher  work.  Now  most  of  you  young  people  belong  to  one 
or  to  another  of  these  departments  in  the  world's  govern- 
ment, and  some  great  Master  has  His  eye  upon  you,  watching 
for  the  time  when  you  intend  from  your  heart  to  give  your- 
self to  the  world's  service,  showing  unmistakable  signs  of 
earnestness.  Alcyone,  for  example,  belongs  to  the  teaching 
department  and  will  some  day  become  a  great  teacher  of  re- 
ligion. The  Master  who  teaches  him  is  therefore  Himself  a 
mighty  Teacher  destined  to  precede  Alcyone  in  a  great  office 
in  the  teaching  department.  Just  as  would-be  engineers 
enter  an  engineering  shop  to  be  trained  by  a  thoroughly 
qualified  engineer,  so  in  the  real  professions  of  life  still  more 

11 


scientific  training  is  available,  and  the  Master  Koot  Hoomi 
will  train  Alcyone  to  fulfil  perfectly  the  destiny  to  which  he 
is  to  be  called.  This  training  has  definite  stages — the  first 
being  when  the  Master  determines  to  take  a  possible  pupil 
on  trial,  this  stage  being  called  probationary  discipleship. 
Passing  successfully  through  the  period  of  probation  or  trial, 
long  or  short  according  to  circumstances,  the  pupil  is  definite- 
ly enrolled  as  a  member  of  the  Master's  school  and  becomes 
an  accepted  disciple.  Very  often  many  years  pass — seven  or 
or  even  more — before  a  candidate  reaches  this  second  stage, 
but  Alcyone  had  in  previous  lives  satisfied  the  Master  as  to 
his  fitness  for  discipleship,  so  in  his  case  these  two  stages  and 
the  third,  sonship  of  the  Master,  a  specially  intimate  relation- 
ship, were  passed  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  his  Initiation 
following  on  January  11th,  1910.  The  object  of  the  Master's 
school  is  to  prepare  its  pupils  for  the  world's  service  and  ex- 
ists partly  to  train  them  in  such  self-control  and  purity  as 
may  enable  them  to  present  themselves  as  candidates  for  ad- 
mission to  the  lowest  rank  in  the  Great  White  Lodge.  Such 
admission  is  the  third  great  stage  on  the  pathway  of  evolu- 
tion— you  remember,  I  hope,  the  other  two — and  is  called 
Initiation  because  it  not  only  means  the  entry  of  the  approv- 
ed candidate  into  an  organised  fraternity  with  all  that  such 
entry  involves,  c.f.  the  masonic  initiation  ceremony,  but  be- 
cause the  candidate  is  for  the  first  time  brought  into  touch, 
during  the  ceremony,  with  certain  great  truths  of  life  which, 
heretofore,  he  has  only  dimly  sensed.  These  truths  will  have 
been  known  to  him  intellectually  long  before  and  he  will  for 
long  have  striven  to  practise  them;  but  not  until  the  cere- 
mony of  Initiation  will  he  feel  them  as  laws  of  his  nature, 
will  he  experience  them  as  living  realities.  His  conscious- 
ness, his  touch  with  God,  expands,  and  truths  which  were 
outside  him,  however  much  he  may  have  realised  them  with 
his  mind,  now  become  part  of  his  very  being  and  he  can  never 
again  think  or  feel  or  act  as  if  they  were  outside  him. 

Expansion  of  Consciousness 
Imagine  a  circle  to  include     all  you     are     and     know. 

12 


Imagine  much  knowledge  outside  yourself  and  a  constant 
pressure  from  within  the  circle  to  include  the  knowledge 
outside.  In  many  places  the  circle  expands  in  the  endeavour 
to  touch  the  truths  beyond.  After  a  time  some  truth  outside, 
which  has  persistently  been  touched,  is  drawn  within  the  circle, 
and  the  circle  increases  its  size  by  the  amount  of  the  knowl- 
edge gained.  Initiation  is,  as  it  were,  the  moment  at  which 
some  special  truths,  notably  the  law  of  unity,  pass  within  the 
circle.  Until  this  time,  the  truths  were  accepted,  their  exist- 
ence was  admitted.  Henceforth,  these  truths  are  realised  as 
part  of  consciousness  itself. 

The  Value  op  Initiation 

To  be  accurate,  I  should  observe  that  the  object  of  Initia- 
tion is  to  confer  upon  its  recipient  power  for  service  derived 
partly  from  the  added  truths,  and  partly  from  the  fact  that 
the  individual  is  now  a  member  of  a  Great  Brotherhood  and 
shares,  for  use,  the  power  Their  unity  generates.  The  word 
"Initiation"  as  used  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  means  ad- 
mission to  membership  of  the  lowest  rank  in  that  great  Hier- 
archy which  governs  the  world,  the  ranks  stretching  upwards 
until  alone  in  His  degree  towers  the  Ruler  of  our  world  Him- 
self. Each  rank  is  separated  from  the  rank  below  by  deeper 
knowledge  and  more  selfless  service,  and  admission  from  a 
lower  rank  to  that  next  higher  depends  upon  proved  self-sur- 
render, in  the  world  of  men,  to  the  needs  of  others.  Initia- 
tion is  the  third  great  expansion  of  consciousness,  expansion 
meaning  here  an  increasing  realisation  by  the  individual  con- 
sciousness of  the  unity  of  all  life,  of  the  God  within  us  as 
identical  with  the  God  without.  At  the  ceremony  itself  the 
Master  presents  His  pupil  for  admission,  having  previously 
satisfied  Himself  as  to  the  pupil's  worthiness,  and  the  candi- 
date being  approved,  enters  the  Brotherhood,  formally  dedi- 
cating himself  thence-forward  to  lives  lived  for  the  world's 
helping.  You  will  notice  that  in  the  Preface  Mrs.  Besant 
calls  Alcyone  "brother,"  and  you  must  remember  that  this 
word  is  deliberately  used  to  mark  the  special  relationship  be- 

13 


tween  them  as  both  Brothers   (there  is  no  sex  distinction) 
in  one  Brotherhood. 

The  Purpose  of  Initiation 

People  often  wonder  why  it  is  necessary  to  pass  through 
the  ceremony  of  Initiation  at  all.  What  can  a  ceremony  do 
to  increase  our  capacity  for  service?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
imagine  that  by  a  very  slow  process  of  growth  mankind  as 
a  whole  may  reach  the  results  of  Initiation  without  passing 
through  any  ceremony  whatever,  drifting  almost  uncon- 
sciously through  this  third  great  step.  But  some  people  are 
eager  to  do  quickly  that  which  otherwise  would  take  a  long 
time,  and  they  submit  to  what  may  be  called  a  kind  of  forced 
growth,  so  as  to  complete  within  a  few  lives  that  which  is 
usually  spread  over  many.  This  involves  very  hard  work  in 
a  Master's  school,  and  the  student  needs  much  help.  As  the 
eagerness  for  progress  is  entirely  unselfish,  the  student  is 
shown,  after  a  certain  amount  of  training,  how  to  wield 
powers  which  normally  would  come  to  him  much  later.  Purity 
of  life,  and  self -discipline,  added  to  definite  teaching  from  a 
Master,  are  the  certificates  entitling  him  to  a  spiritual  degree 
which  confers  upon  him  definite  powers,  and  these  powers  are 
explained  to  him  during  the  ceremony  of  Initiation  by  a  dele- 
gate from  The  One  in  whose  Hands  our  destinies  lie.  The 
ceremony  of  Initiation  is  an  official  examination  demonstrat- 
ing the  candidate's  fitness  so  to  use  the  new  powers  to  be  con- 
ferred on  him  that  he  may  become  a  better  helper  in  the 
world  of  men.  Such  powers  are  not  common  to  the  period  in 
which  the  world  is  now  living,  and  if  an  individual  is  to  re- 
ceive them  he  must  prove  his  fitness  before  Those  Who  alone 
can  confer  them  before  the  normal  time. 

"To  Those  Who  Knock' ' 

Notice  also,  please,  how  Mrs.  Besant  writes  of  the  ' '  great 
Portal"  as  having  swung  open  to  receive  the  new  brother, 
and  in  this  connection  see  the  words  which  precede  the  pre- 
face—"To  Those  Who  Knock."  The  Great  White  Lodge— 
"white"  because  white  is  the  symbol  of  purity  and  spiritual- 

14 


ity — is  believed  to  be  a  Temple  of  Wisdom,  entry  to  which  is 
through  its  " great  Portal/'  a  door  li which  opens  to  those 
who  knock' '  in  the  spirit  of  a  great  love  for  the  world  in 
which  they  live,  of  an  eager  willingness  to  use  their  powers 
for  the  benefit  of  others,  and  of  a  humble  gratitude  to  Those 
Who  may  deign  to  guide  them  to  wider  usefulness  and  to  a 
love   more   beautiful. 

Live  the  Teaching 

Initiation,  then,  is  the  third  great  step,  the  step  which 
many  of  you  are  now,  I  hope,  approaching.  Another  great  step 
is  reached  when  from  the  human  kingdom  a  Brother  passes  to 
the  super-human  kingdom,  the  region  of  perfected  Men, 
gains  the  expansion  of  consciousness  associated  with  the  fifth 
great  Initiation — the  one  referred  to  in  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  being  the  first — and  becomes  a  Master,  a  Man  who  has 
learned  all  this  world  can  teach.  We  need  not,  however,  con- 
sider this  step.  Enough  that  the  teachings  which  fitted  Aly- 
cone  for  admission  to  the  great  White  Brotherhood  have  been 
given  to  us  at  the  command  of  the  great  World-Teacher  Him- 
self. Enough  that  we  too  are  privileged  to  know  how  our  lives 
should  be  lived  if  we  would  become  one  of  the  band  of  serv- 
ers and  helpers. 

"But,"  says  Mrs.  Besant,  "the  teaching  can  only  be 
fruitful  if  it  is  lived,  as  he  has  lived  it  since  it  fell  from  his 
Master's  lips."  So  we  must  now  try  to  see  what  this  teach- 
ing is,  how  we  are  to  apply  it  to  our  daily  lives.  Remember, 
as  an  encouragement  that  we  are  not  expected  to  live  the 
teaching  perfectly — to  do  that  would  need  the  soul  of  a 
Master  Himself.  But  in  the  effort  will  lie  the  measure  of 
success,  and  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  that  we  cannot  try 
to  do.  Young  people  in  many  parts  of  the  world  are  trying 
hard,  and  some  of  them  have  gained  admission  to  a  Master's 
school.  The  great  World  Teacher  needs  many  helpers  for 
His  work  in  the  world.  Will  you  not  try  to  become  useful  to 
Him  by  training  yourself  beforehand,  so  that  when  He  comes 
He  may  find  a  disciplined  band  of  workers  ready  to  go  any- 

15 


where  and  do  anything,  a  band  bringing  to  Him  not  mere 
willingness  to  help,  but,  which  is  far  more  important,  trained 
capacity  to  help  as  well? 

The  Real  and  the  Unreal 

The  Sanskrit  verse  which  precedes  Alcyone's  own  Fore- 
word or  Introduction  sums  up,  as  it  were,  the  whole  of  the 
teaching  that  any  Master  can  give  His  pupil.  "From  the 
unreal  lead  me  to  the  real"  is  the  cry  of  all  who  are  in  ear- 
nest. More  than  anything  else  we  desire  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  true  and  the  false,  between  that  which  gives  pain 
and  that  which  brings  joy;  and  in  every  life  the  lessons  we 
learn  from  pain  are  teaching  us  to  recognise  more  unerringly, 
and,  therefore,  to  cast  aside,  those  thoughts,  feelings  and  ac- 
tions which  belong  to  the  unreal,  to  that  which  separates  us 
from  the  knowledge  of  God.  The  unreal  is  that  which  does 
not  last,  it  is  the  form  which  veils  the  soul,  and  if  only  we 
were  better  able  to  distinguish  the  self  from  its  sheaths  there 
would  be  much  less  unhappiness  in  the  world.  It  is  not  enough 
to  know  with  the  mind,  you  must  know  with  the  heart.  Most 
of  us  know  with  our  minds  that  the  body  is  merely  a  tem- 
porary form  chosen  by  the  soul  for  this  particular  life,  but 
so  much  is  the  form  associated  with  the  life  within  that  we 
feel  we  have  lost  the  soul  when  the  form  breaks  up  at  death. 
So  you  see  we  are  still  very  much  bound  up  in  the  unreal, 
however  much  in  theory  we  may  be  able  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  real.  But  you  must  not  therefore  think  that  the 
unreal  is  useless.  It  is  through  the  unreal  that  we  reach  the 
real,  which  shows  up  the  more  vividly  by  contrast.  The 
stars  are  shining  on  us  as  much  in  the  daytime  as  at  night, 
but  it  is  because  of  the  contrast  with  the  darkness  of  the  night 
that  we  are  able  to  gaze  awe -struck  at  the  splendour  of  the 
starlit  heavens. 

The  world  of  matter  corresponds  to  the  blackness  of 
night,  and  the  souls  of  men  may  be  likened  to  the  stars. 
Living  in  the  world  of  matter  we  learn  to  realise — from  its 
ever  changing  forms — that  there  is  something  which  remains 

16 


unchanged  behind  these  changing  forms.  Living  in  the  midst 
of  change,  the  unreal,  we  are  forced  to  seek  the  changeless, 
the  real,  and  each  one  of  us  is  gradually  learning  to  under- 
stand that  every  changing  mood  and  feeling  is  no  more  the 
full  expression  of  ourselves  than  is  the  child-body  the  com- 
plete expression  of  the  soul  within.  The  child-body  grows 
into  the  youth-body,  and  the  youth-body  becomes  the  man. 
Behind  each  the  soul  has  been  pressing  to  express  itself  more 
fully,  and  so  it  is  with  each  mood  and  feeling.  The  mood 
passes,  another  comes,  and  yet  another.  And  the  soul  may 
look  back  upon  those  that  are  past  and  say :  ^1  was  not  that 
mood,  for  it  is  dead  and  I  remain."  So  the  object  of  all  the 
teaching  is  to  discover  what  is  this  "I"  that  ever  remains 
and  how  best  it  may  be  expressed  that  ttoe  form  shall  be  the 
perfect  mirror  of  the  soul.  Even  then  the  form  must  still  be  un- 
real, for  all  that  veils  the  soul  is  as  a  fleeting  shadow,  but  the 
purer  the  form  the  longer  it  lasts,  and  even  the  coarse  physical 
body  lasts  the  longer  if  its  particles  are  pure.  We  are  told, 
indeed,  that  those  Masters  who  use  physical  bodies  may  cause 
one  body  to  last  for  several  hundred  years  if  so  They  choose, 
and  this  shows  us  that  purity  is  more  real  than  impurity,  for 
our  own  bodies  could  never  endure  so  long. 

Darkness  and  Light 

The  second  line  "From  darkness  lead  me  to  light' '  is 
another  form  for  the  same  idea,  as  is  also  the  third  "From 
death  lead  me  to  immortality. ' '  We  may  look  upon  the  word 
"darkness"  as  symbolising  ignorance,  while  "Light"  is  ever 
the  sign  of  wisdom,  as  the  sun  is  the  source  of  all  life.  I  write 
the  word  "wisdom"  and  not  "knowledge",  for  knowledge 
belongs  but  to  the  mind,  while  wisdom  is  the  science  of  the 
spirit.  "From  death  lead  me  to  immortality" — let  the  lower 
nature  pass  away  and  the  higher  shine  forth  for  ever. 

Much  more  might,  of  course,  be  written  in  explanation 
of  this  beautiful  verse,  but  I  must  leave  any  difficult  points 
for  elucidation  by  some  elder  friend. 

17 


CHAPTEE    II 

ALCYONE'S  FOREWOKD 

We  now  come  to  the  Foreword  itself,  and  from  the  first 
Alcyone  makes  it  clear  that  he  is  merely  passing  on  teaching 
which  has  enabled  him  to  knock  successfully  at  the  portal 
giving  access  to  the  Temple  of  Initiation*.  "  These  are  not 
my  words;  they  are  the  words  of  the  Master  who  taught  me". 
And  then  comes  what  is  to  me  one  of  the  most  important  sen- 
tences in  the  whole  book.  "Without  Him  I  could  have  done 
nothing;  but  through  His  help  I  have  set  my  feet  upon  the 
Path."  Many  people  continually  wonder  how  it  is  that  so 
many  earnest  and  selfless  workers  seem  to  be  toiling  day  after 
day,  year  after  year,  and  yet  make  no  apparent  progress. 
Surely  X,  or  Y,  or  Z,  who  seem  to  practice  perfectly  the  teach- 
ings given  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master,  are  in  special 
touch  with  some  Elder  Brother,  are  pupils  of  some  Master, 
have  become  members  of  the  great  White  Lodge.  Now  we 
must  face  this  difficulty  frankly.  Mere  goodness  is  not 
enough  to  win  admission  to  a  Master's  school,  else  there  were 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  members.  Mere  knowledge,  how- 
ever deep,  is  not  enough,  else  all  our  foremost  scientists  and 
scholars  were  pupils.  Not  even  a  combination  of  goodness 
and  knowledge  suffices.  What,  then,  is  a  standard?  A 
definite  spiritual  tone,  certainly,  and  a  record  either  in 
this  life  or  in  those  gone  by,  of  effort  devoted  to  the 
needs  of  the  world.  Also,  a  certain  intellectual  level, 
not  necessarily  that  of  a  genius,  but  that  of  an  ordinarily 
well-educated  man  or  woman.  But  beyond  this  there  must 
be  elements  of  true  wisdom,  of  a  true  understanding  of  the 

*  I  might  note  here  that  the  actual  ceremony  of  Initiation  does  take  place  in 
a  kind  of  temple,  so  the  simile  is  true  literally  as  well  as  symbolically. 

18 


purpose  of  life.  It  is  not  for  me  to  presume  to  suggest  a 
general  standard  below  which  a  Master  would  not  look  for 
recruits  to  His  school,  but,  so  far  as  I  have  been  taught,  there 
must  not  only  be  a  realisation  of  the  general  plan  of  the 
world's  government  but  also  an  acceptance  of  the  Elder 
Brethren  as  Guides  and  Teachers.  How  can  any  one  enter 
a  school  unless  he  recognises  its  existence?  How  can  we  ex- 
pect the  Masters  to  spend  Their  time  in  teaching  the  elemen- 
tary lessons  of  life  to  those  who  could  learn  them  from  elders 
less  evolved  than  the  great  Teachers  Themselves,  but  at  least 
sufficiently  informed  to  impart  the  teaching  required?  It  is 
not  until  we  have  already  learned,  during  our  course  of  lives, 
many  of  the  lessons  life  in  the  outer  world  teaches  us,  that 
we  are  qualified  to  enter  the  Master's  world — the  world  of 
realities — for  which  ours  is  as  a  preparatory  school. 

Alcyone  at  once  proclaims  his  fitness  for  membership 
of  the  Master's  school  by  declaring  that  "without  Him  I  could 
have  done  nothing."  Many  people  believe,  no  doubt,  in  the 
Christ,  in  Sri  Krishna,  in  the  Lord  Buddha,  in  the  Lord  Mu- 
hammad ;  but  either  they  expect  some  return  for  their  belief, 
for  example,  salvation  for  themselves,  or  they  regard  the  object 
of  their  devotion  as  a  pillar  of  strength  whose  principal  func- 
tion is  to  stand  between  themselves  and  the  mistakes  of  their 
weaknesses.  In  other  words,  the  belief  of  most  people  as  re- 
gards one  or  another  of  these  Mighty  Brethren  is  based  rather 
on  the  longing  for  personal  salvation  than  on  a  recognition  that 
where  These  great  Ones  are  there  we  may  one  day  stand  if 
we  gradually  learn  to  live  our  lives  as  They  lived  Theirs  be- 
fore reaching  the  present  summits  of  Their  achievements. 
Some  spiritual*  people  are  content  to  live  their  lives  in  feeble 
yet  sincere  imitation  of  the  example  set  them  by  their  Lord, 
asking  nothing  for  themselves  and  giving  to  all  who  need  irre- 
spective of  creed  or  race,  and  these  are  drawing  near  to  that 

*  I  think  I  ought  to  point  out  that  in  using  the  term  "spiritual"  as  applied 
to  people  who  are  drawing  near  to  discipleship  I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  "that  they 
are  paragons  of  virtue.  The  higher  ranks  of  discipleship  are  only  to  be  won 
through  the  constant  practice  of  all  the  virtues,  but  the  entry  to  discipleship  and 
the  passing  through  the  portal  of  Initiation  may  be  gained  while  the  candidate  is 
still  very  far  from  adequately  displaying  the  perfect  life.     If  you  know  any  among 

19 


formal  discipleship  which  comes  to  those  who  strive,  without 
desire  for  reward  but  out  of  great  love,  to  live  as  disciples  in 
the  outer  world.  But  there  must  inevitably  be  much  ignor- 
ant belief  as.  regards  the  Great  Teachers,  however  sincere  it 
may  be,  before  Their  true  place  in  our  lives  can  become 
known,  and  where  many  people  shut  themselves  off  from 
much  inspiration  they  might  otherwise  receive,  is  in  imagin- 
ing that  their  special  Teacher  is  the  only  source  of  truth  for 
all.  There  is  a  whole  age  of  growth  between  the  statement 
that  Christ  is  the  only  Saviour  of  the  world  and  the  knowl- 
edge that  there  are  many  Saviours,  and  until  we  learn  through 
experience  that  there  are  many  roads  to  God,  that  each 
human  being  is  travelling  along  a  road  as  direct  as  our  own, 
though  he  may  be  behind  us  on  his  pathway,  we  shall  not 
have  gained  the  power  to  help  each  person  on  his  own  road 
— an  indispensable  qualification  for  admission  to  a  Master's 
school.  Out  of  goodness  we  may  strive  to  bring  others  to  our 
own  road,  but  that  is  a  narrow  and  ignorant  goodness,  and  a 
Master's  school  trains  its  pupils  to  serve  and  honour  all  faiths, 
to  help  each  individual  to  tread  his  own  way  according  to  the 
plan  marked  out  for  him  by  the  God-to-be  within  him. 

The  Upward  Climb 

If  you  understand  what  I  have  written,  you  will  realise 
that  once  we  begin  to  gain  a  glimpse  of  the  real  principles  of 
evolution  and  know  that  others  are  in  front  of  us  on  life's 

the  lower  ranks  of  disciples  you  will  realise  that  all  have  many  weaknesses,  whilt 
some  may  by  no  means  conform  to  the  world's  conventional  standard  of  behaviour. 
Pure-minded  the  disciple  must  be,  reverent  at  heart,  loving  by  nature,  tolerant  in 
attitude,  and  eager  in  his  Master's  service.  Having  these  qualities  in  a  reasonable 
state  of  development,  there  must  be  some  comparatively  outstanding  power  which 
lifts  him  above  the  normal  level  as  regards  usefulness  to  the  Master.  Perhaps 
he  is  a  great  speaker,  a  great  writer,  a  great  inspirer,  a  great  artist,  a  great 
healer — possessing  some  force  which  may  be  employed  in  drawing  people  nearer 
to  realities.  Then  Karma  must  be  favourable,  for  he  must  have  exhausted  all 
Karma  which  might  considerably  hinder  the  Master  from  employing  him.  We 
should  not  be  Very  useful  if  we  had  to  spend  much  time  in  paying  off  our  own 
debts.  But  the  outstanding  power  may  have  its  own  outstanding  weakness,  and 
while  the  disciple  is  likely  to  have  himself  fairly  well  in  hand,  you  would  gain  a 
very  false  idea  of  discipleship  if  you  were  to  imagine  that  it  involved  a  personality 
of  negative  rather  than  of  positive  and,  in  consequence,  a  somewhat  turbulent,  dis- 
position. You  do  not  look  for  perfection  in  young  disciples,  but  you  will  certainly 
see  power  of  one  kind  or  another. 

20 


pathway  just  as  many  are  behind  us,  we  must  naturally  long 
for  the  guidance  of  those  who  know  more,  not  that  we  may 
know  for  ourselves  alone,  but  that  our  power  of  helping 
others  may  increase.  Struggling  hard  to  know  the  truth,  giv- 
ing up  all  that  the  world  prizes  if  only  truth  may  shine  upon 
us,  we  break  asunder  the  bonds  of  convention,  we  reject  the 
dogmas  in  which  lies  concealed  the  spirit  of  the  religion  to 
which  we  happen  to  belong.  Read  Mrs.  Besant's  Autobiography 
and  see  how  rocky  and  steep  was  her  pathway  to  the  Masters. 
At  last,  clinging  only  to  a  passionate  determination  to  serve  the 
world  as  best  she  might,  giving  to  it  her  ignorance  if  she  can 
find  no  better  offering,  she  wins  her  way  to  her  Master's  feet. 
She  longs  for  power  and  wisdom  only  that  she  may  use  them 
for  others,  and  when  no  personal  sorrow  or  despair  prevents, 
her  from  giving  all  encouragement  in  her  power  to  those  who 
cry  for  protection,  then  at  last  she  shows  herself  worthy  of 
that  true  knowledge  which  may  be  given  only  to  those  who 
could  never  use  it  for  themselves  alone.  Through  such  battle, 
you  and  I,  young  friends,  must  pass.  Perhaps  the  struggle 
will  not  yet  be  so  hard  for  us  as  it  was  for  her,  for  she  is  at 
the  end  of  her  pilgrimages  to  a  world  from  which  she  has 
learned  all  it  can  teach  her,  and  has  in  this  life  for  the  last 
time  re-lived  within  the  short  space  of  a  few  years  the  hard- 
ships of  man's  upward  climbing.  She  has,  as  it  were,  recapit- 
ulated the  lessons  learned  during  many  lives  in  the  world- 
school,  so  that  she  may  stand  before  the  Masters  to  prove  she 
knows  those  lessons  perfectly.  We  are  still  in  the  world- 
school,  and  the  lessons  we  learn  are  adapted  to  our  powers  of 
understanding.  But,  knowing  of  Those  in  front,  we  are  sure 
that  They  live  but  to  show  us  the  way  to  eternal  life,  and  how- 
ever little  we  may  be  able  consciously  to  feel  Their  guidance,  in 
some  dim  way  at  least  we  know  that  They  are  with  us,  and  that 
without  Them  we  could  do  nothing.  For  the  time,  we  may  for- 
get Their  presence,  and  then  we  must  still  struggle  on  as  did 
Mrs.  Besant,  but  sooner  or  later  we  come  to  Them,  and  as  a 
ray  of  sunlight  illumines  a  dark  room  so  do  we  then  know 
that  without  Them  we  could  have  done  nothing,  that  all  we 

21 


have  done  is  because  of  Them.  Do  not  think ,  my  young 
friends,  that  this  is  dependence  upon  another,  for  not  only 
in  Their  service  is  perfect  freedom,  but  there  is  the  One  Life 
ensouling  us  all,  and  They  cannot  do  without  us,  reverently 
be  it  said,  any  more  than  we  can  do  without  Them.  We  are 
one  in  spirit ;  what  They  are  we  shall  be ;  what  we  are  They 
have  been ;  and  to  the  great  Shepherd  we  are  all  sheep  of  His 
world-wide  fold. 

I  have  written  on  this  subject  at  length,  for  I  think  it 
very  necessary  that  you  should  understand  these  important 
facts,  since,  rightly  understood,  they  will  protect  you  from 
much  doubt  and  difficulty  when  you  enter  the  outside  world. 

Success  Consists  in  Repeated  Effort 

I  should  like  you  to  pay  special  attention  to  the  rest  of 
the  Foreword.  "It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  they  [the  Mas- 
ter's words]  are  true  and  beautiful;  a  man  who  wishes  to 
succeed  must  do  exactly  what  is  said.''  Again:  "you  must 
do  what  He  says,  attending  to  every  word,  taking  every  hint 
....  He  does  not  speak  twice."  How  many  of  us  are  ready 
to  sit  at  the  Master's  feet  under  conditions  such  as  these? 
How  often  we  hear  Mrs.  Besant,  or  Mr.  Leadbeater,  or  other 
elders,  tell  us  the  same  thing  over  and  over  again.  Do  we  not 
often  think  that  our  lecturers  are  constantly  repeating  them- 
selves, that  they  continually  reiterate  the  same  truths  over 
and  over  again,  until  we  are  almost  tired  of  hearing  them? 
Such,  however,  is  the  task  of  the  disciple  in  the  outer  world 
— to  recapitulate  over  and  over  again  the  same  truths  until 
at  last  we  begin  to  live  within  the  truths  instead  of  outside 
them.  The  Master  could  not  spare  the  time  to  do  this,  but, 
because  the  world  must  learn,  He  permits  a  pupil  to  take  His 
teachings  to  the  outer  world  and  to  win  for  them  an  accept- 
ance, overcoming  indifference,  hostility,  ridicule ;  gaining  for 
them  enquiry  and  finally  understanding.  On  very  import- 
ant occasions  a  Master  has  been  known  to  repeat  directions 
which  have  not  been  properly  carried  out,  but  the  circum- 

22 


stances  were  very  exceptional  and  of  vital  importance.  If, 
therefore,  you  desire  to  become  a  pupil  of  one  of  the  Masters 
ask  yourselves  whether,  for  example,  you  persevere  in  try- 
ing to  make  your  daily  life  conform  to  the  wisdom  of  At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master.  This  little  book  ought  always  to  be  at 
hand,  so  that  you  may  constantly  refer  to  it,  and  test  in  the 
light  of  its  precepts  that  which  for  the  moment  may  be  occu- 
pying you.  I  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  bear  personal  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that  any  progress  I  may  have  made  or  any 
increased  power  of  usefulness  I  may  have  acquired  has  been 
very  largely  due  to  my  continual  reference  to  At  the  Feet 
of  the  Master  when  in  difficulty  or  doubt.  The  book  is  a 
kind  of  modern  commentary  on  the  Ancient  Scriptures,  and 
our  gratitude  goes  to  Alcyone  for  enabling  us  to  refer  many 
times  to  advice  which  we  are  not  yet  enough  in  earnest  to 
hear  direct  from  the  Master's  lips.  One  of  the  privileges  of 
a  disciple,  as  I  have  said,  is  to  be  able  to  repeat  many  times 
that  which  his  Master  will  only  utter  once.  But  do  not  for- 
get that  you  who  have  this  priceless  teaching  always  at  hand, 
are  worse  off,  not  more  fortunate,  than  people  who  have 
never  had  it  at  all,  if  you  do  not  at  least  try  to  follow  its  ad- 
vice. It  is  sad  to  receive  no  gift  at  all,  but  it  is  positively  harm- 
ful to  receive  a  gift  from  such  a  source  and  to  treat  it  with  in- 
difference, for  the  result  will  be  that  in  a  future  life  you  will 
long  in  vain  for  that  which  you  now  neglect.  You  are  not  asked 
to  accomplish.  You  are  asked  to  try  not  to  be  downcast  at 
failure.  The  effort  to  attend  to  what  the  Master  says  may 
bring  you  within  the  circle  of  His  pupils,  for  above  all  He 
asks  for  earnestness  and  perseverance.  He  does  not  count 
as  failures  mistakes  from  which  springs  a  still  stronger  de- 
termination to  succeed. 

Remember  that  the  Master's  teaching  applies  everywhere 
and  to  all.  It  applies  as  much  in  the  parliament  as  in  the 
home,  as  much  to  those  whom  the  world  counts  greatest  as  to- 
the  humblest  toiler  living  as  an  unknown  and  uncared-for 
unit  in  our  midst.  The  teaching  is  indeed  a  counsel  of  per- 
fection, but  has  its  teaching  and  its  value  at  every  stage  of 


unit  in 
fection. 


23 


the  upward  climb,  and  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes  we 
make  is  to  imagine  that  perfection  cannot  be  reached. 
Utopia  is  not  unattainable,  for  some  have  reached  it, 
and  if  you  try  your  best  to  fashion  every  thought, 
word  and  deed  according  to  the  Master's  advice  you 
will  find  yourselves  much  nearer  your  goal  than  in  your 
rosiest  dreams.  Whatever  is  of  noble  purpose  in  you — am- 
bition, love,  hope,  endeavour — will  come  to  you  the  more  cer- 
tainly for  the  attention  you  pay  to  the  Master's  words,  and 
one  day  you  will  say,  with  the  conviction  of  experience  be- 
hind the  words,  "without  Him  I  could  have  done  nothing; 
but  through  His  help  I  have  set  my  feet  upon  the  Path." 


Note 

If  you  are  seriously  taking  up  the  study  of  At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master  you  will  find  that  much  of  the  Master's 
advice  conflicts  with  conventional  attitudes  and  opinions,  and 
I  have  known  people  doubt  the  Master's  capacity  to  under- 
stand wordly  conditions,  "being  so  far  removed  from  the 
troubles  and  turmoil  amidst  which  we  live."  Certain  stu- 
dents, for  example,  who  have  wished  to  translate  At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master  into  the  language  of  their  country  have 
sometimes  desired  to  omit  or  modify  so-called  "inapplicable" 
suggestions — imagining  that  their  limited  knowledge  is  of 
greater  practical  value  than  the  Master's  wisdom.  For  ex- 
ample, the  passage  "If  you  see  anyone  breaking  the  law  of 
the  country,  you  should  inform  the  authorities"  is  thought 
by  some  to  be  in  direct  opposition  to  conventional  ideas  as  to 
loyalty  and  honour.  The  Master,  it  is  urged,  tells  us  to  betray 
a  comrade  if  we  notice  him  breaking  a  law  of  the  country  in 
which  we  live ! 

Now  I  do  not  wish  at  this  stage  of  our  study  to  consider 
the  important  duty  underlying  the  advice  contained  in  the 
sentence  I  have  quoted.  We  will  consider  it  when  it  comes 
before  us  in  its  regular  order.     But  I  think  it  necessary  to 

24 


point  out  the  great  principle  underling  the  whole  of  the 
teaching  given  us.  The  Master  is  emphasising  the  real,  and 
it  is  our  business  to  test  all  that  we  are,  and  all  that  sur- 
rounds us,  in  the  light  of  the  reality  as  presented  to  us  by  a 
Master  of  Wisdom — One  who  has,  through  ages  of  hard  strug- 
gle, gained  the  power  at  once  to  discriminate  between  the 
real  and  the  unreal. 

In  taking  up  the  study  of  this  book  we  are  sitting  at  the 
feet  of  One  who  knows,  not  of  one  who  only  thinks  and 
judges.  Take  any  ordinary  ethical  book  written  by  the  deep- 
est thinker  the  world  has  seen  and  you  will  merely  be  reading 
the  thoughts  of  someone  in  the  world  like  yourself,  though 
perhaps  of  greater  ability  and  deeper  intuition.  His  line  of 
thought  need  not  necessarily  be  yours,  and  it  is  your  duty 
to  be  respectfully  critical  though,  of  course,  modesty  enquir- 
ing. But  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  you  have  the  wis- 
dom of  One  who  has  learned  all  the  world  can  teach,  who  has 
in  the  past  faced  all  the  troubles  and  sorrows  through  which 
you  have  passed,  are  passing,  and  have  yet  to  pass.  He  has 
conquered  the  world,  and  not  one  single  difficulty  the  world 
can  produce  could  perplex  Him  for  an  instant.  He  has  mas- 
tered the  principles  of  life,  and  whether  He  be  living  in  the 
world  of  the  20th  century  or  in  that  of  the  50th  or  of  the  5th 
all  that  surrounds  Him  is  but  an  aspect  of  these  great  princi- 
ples, an  application  of  the  laws  they  enforce. 

He  states  in  very  simple  language  certain  of  these  gen- 
eral principles  and  does  not  at  all  limit  His  teaching  to  any 
particular  country  or  to  any  special  religion.  True,  he  is 
addressing  those  who  desire  admission  to  a  Master's  school, 
but  such  candidates  are  people  who  know  more  than  most 
others  and  who  are  expected  to  live  in  stricter  honour  than  the 
majority.  So  all  the  advice  He  gives  must  be  of  a  tone  infi- 
nitely finer  than  that  to  which  conventional  morality  vibrates. 

"What  you  have  to  do,  therefore,  is  to  try  to  understand 
what  is  the  matter  with  your  point  of  view  when  it  conflicts 
with  the  Master's  rather  than  to  think  that  either  the  Master 
is  not  conversant  with  the  world's  affairs  or  that  His  teach- 


25 


ing  does  not  apply  to  you  and  to  your  country.  The  Master 
does  not  ask  you  to  accept  His  teaching  and  to  follow  it 
blindly,  neither  would  He  recommend  you  to  reject  it  be- 
cause it  does  not  fit  in  with  your  scheme  of  life.  That  which 
you  do  not  understand  try  to  understand.  That  which  you 
cannot  understand  leave  to  the  enlightening  power  of  time 
and  of  experience.  If  you  reject  the  truth  it  will  only  re- 
turn to  you  after  infinite  wooing,  while  if  you  merely  leave 
it  for  future  consideration  when  opportunity  offers  you  will 
find  that  in  the  meantime  you  have  been  unconsciously  grow- 
ing towards  its  understanding. 

Use  the  world's  conventions  while  truer  attitudes  are 
hidden  from  you,  for  the  wisdom  of  the  world  is  the  standard 
for  the  average  man  and  woman.  But  when  a  Master  conde- 
scends to  speak — listen.  Come  to  no  hasty  conclusions  in 
your  eagerness  to  follow  His  precepts,  for  while  He  seeks  to 
shatter  out-worn  superstitions  He  will  not  undermine  beliefs 
still  necessary  for  the  world's  growth.  Think  over  carefully 
what  He  says  and  try  to  understand  its  application  to  ordi- 
nary every-day  life,  remembering  that  in  far-off  Shigatse  He 
knows  infinitely  more  of  the  world  than  our  greatest  states- 
man, our  wisest  philosopher,  our  most  beneficent  philanthro- 
pist, our  cleverest  man  of  business. 

When  you  doubt — reflect;  where  you  oppose* — suspend 
judgment;  but  when  you  realise — follow  unflinchingly  how- 
ever much  convention  may  be  against  you,  provided  you  are 
willing  to  take  courage  into  your  own  hands,  asking  help  from 
none,  and  acting  gently  and  tolerantly  towards  all. 


26 


CHAPTER    ni 

THE  QUALIFICATIONS  FOE  DISCIPLESHIP 

We  now  consider  the  qualifications  to  be  practised  if 
we  would  gain  that  special  power  of  service  which  is  con- 
ferred upon  all  who  are  admitted  to  the  great  White  Brother- 
hood— through  passing  the  first  of  the  great  Initiations.  I 
might  just  remark  here  that  the  Mysteries  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  of  which  you  will  find  much  written  in  ancient  books, 
as  well  as  modern  Freemasonry,  are  faint  imitations  of  the 
real  ceremony  itself  and  of  the  tests  which  the  candidate  un- 
dergoes. The  Ancient  Mysteries,  'especially  in  their  purer 
form,  did  indeed  demand  from  their  votaries  very  definite 
qualifications  not  unlike  those  with  which  we  are  about  to 
deal.  Freemasonry  in  modern  times  has  so  little  spiritual 
life  in  it  that  one  can  only  honour  it  for  its  far-off  origin  and 
for  its  charity ;  but  even  Freemasonry  admits  to  membership 
those  alone  who  are  deemed  to  be  of  unblemished  reputation. 
And  in  the  insistence  everywhere  on  qualifications,  in  the  ex- 
istence of  ceremonial,  and  in  the  conferment  of  certain  pow- 
ers, you  have  the  endeavour  on  the  part  of  men  to  remember 
that  there  are  real  ceremonies,  to  which  real  powers  are  at- 
tached, through  which  entry  is  sought  into  a  Brotherhood 
which  is  the  nucleus  on  the  spiritual  plane  of  a  brotherhood 
which  some  day  shall  exist  in  the  outer  world. 

The  Four  Principles  of  Life 

The  Qualifications  as  given  by  the  Master  are  (1)  Dis- 
crimination, (2)  Desirelessness,  (3)  Good  Conduct,  and  (4) 
Love;  and  He  adopts  here  the  Eastern  classification,  prob- 

27 


ably  because  it  would  specially  appeal  to  the  understanding 
of  His  Indian  pupil.  Remember  that  in  each  religion  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  great  Path  on  which  the  successive  Initia- 
tions are  stages,  and  in  each  religion  may  be  found  enumer- 
ated the  qualifications  which  alone  will  enable  men  to  tread 
it.  In  Esoteric  Christianity  Mrs.  Besant  has  traced  for  us 
the  Christian  terminology  for  the  various  Initiations  and  for 
the  qualifications  leading  thereto,  and  I  recommend  you  to 
read  what  she  has  to  tell  us  on  this  subject.  Similarly,  other 
religions  yield  identical  information,  but  we  will  adopt  the 
Hindu  classification  as  given  by  the  Master,  partly  because 
it  is  so  clear  that  we  can  easily  understand  it  no  matter  to 
what  religion  we  belong,  and  partly  because  its  practical 
value  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  others  have  fol- 
lowed Alcyone  through  the  Portal,  basing  their  endeavours 
on  the  counsel  they  have  received  from  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master.  Do  not  think,  therefore,  that  you  are  studying 
something  of  no  practical  application.  The  precepts  of  this 
little  book  have  been  brought  down  into  practice  in  every- 
day life  in  the  present  day  by  comparatively  ordinary  people, 
and  they  have  found  their  way  to  the  Path.  Remember, 
again,  that  perfection  in  the  practice  of  these  precepts  may 
only  be  obtained  by  one  who  has  passed  that  great  Initiation 
which  confers  on  him  the  rank  of  Masterhood. 

You  are  trying  but  to  enter  the  Courtyard  of  the  Tem- 
ple itself — the  Master's  school;  so  it  would  be  foolish  to  ex- 
pect to  accomplish  now  that  which  can  only  come  after  many 
lives.  Keep  on  trying,  and  remember  that  an  achievement 
far,  far  short  of  perfection  will  bring  you  to  your  Master's 
feet.  When  Mrs.  Besant  says  in  the  Preface  that  we  must 
live  the  teaching,  I  think  she  means  we  must  take  it  seriously 
and  concentrate  ourselves  on  it.  All  our  living  is  imperfect, 
but  the  more  we  are  in  earnest  the  less  imperfect  it  becomes. 
Many  people  write  to  Alcyone  telling  him  what  beautiful 
teaching  He  has  given  to  the  world,  but  all  the  use  most  peo- 
ple make  of  it  is  to  wish  that  others  would  pay  more  atten- 
tion to  it  than  they  do.    Living  according  to  a  certain  stan- 

28 


dard,  we  are  not  easily  shaken  out  of  it,  and  when  valuable 
advice  is  put  before  us  we  imagine  that  we  are  already  doing 
our  best  to  follow  it.  More  vigorous  effort  is  expected  from 
you,  my  dear  young  friends,  and  you  should  try  to  realise 
that  you  have  been  given  a  higher  standard  towards  which  to 
strive  and  that  you  have  accordingly  to  revise  your  ideas,  at- 
titudes and  actions  in  the  clear  light  which  has  come  to  you. 
Be  positive  in  your  study  of  the  book,  and  follow  Alcyone's 
own  method  of  "living"  his  Master's  teaching  by  taking  the 
various  points  one  by  one  and  practising  them  for  definite 
periods  of  time. 


Discrimination 


The  first  two  or  three  pages  of  the  book  itself  are  occu- 
pied in  laying  stress  on  the  importance  of  the  distinction  be- 
tween people  who  have  real  knowledge  and  those  who  have 
not.  Some  of  you  may  wonder  why  the  Master  should  have 
insisted  upon  so  very  obvious  a  fact.  "Of  course  there  are 
only  two  kinds  of  people,  those  who  know  and  those  who  do 
not  know."  It  is  a  simple  matter  of  logic.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  this  obvious  truth  is  by  no  means  generally 
applied  even  by  those  who  ought  to  know  it,  and  unless  you 
begin  to  apply  it  in  your  relations  with  the  outside  world  you 
will  not  make  much  progress  towards  the  Path  on  which  you 
desire  to  set  your  feet. 

The  people  who  know  have  the  power  of  discrimination. 
What  is  this  discrimination?  The  knowledge  which  enables 
a  man  to  distinguish  between  that  which  is  fleeting,  imper- 
manent, and  that  which  lasts,  is  eternal.  "Men  who  do  not 
know  work  to  gain  wealth  and  power,  but  these  are  at  most 
for  one  life  only,  and  therefore  unreal,"  says  the  Master. 
And  later  on  He  amplifies  this  definition  by  stating  that 
"discrimination  must  ...  be  made  between  the  right  and 
the  wrong,  the  important,  and  the  unimportant,  the  useful 
and  the  useless,  the  true  and  the  false,  the  selfish  and  the  un- 

29 


selfish."    So  you  see  that  this  quality  of  discrimination  enters 
into  the  ordinary  life  of  each  one  of  us. 

Do  not  think  that  the  Master  is  blaming  those  who  do  not 
know.  Ignorance  is  not  a  crime,  it  is  an  episode  of  growth; 
and  you  become  one  of  those  who  do  not  know  when  you  are 
impatient  with  ignorance.  But  while  you  do  not  blame,  nor 
even  pity,  you  must  at  least  be  able  to  distinguish  between 
that  which  is  ignorance  and  that  which  is  knowledge,  so 
that  you  may  yourself  abstain  from  error  and  may  help  those 
who  know  less.  All  knowledge  is  relative,  and  you  must  bear 
in  mind  the  Masters  words:  "However  wise  you  may  be  al- 
ready, on  this  Path  you  have  much  to  learn."  Those  who 
know  more  than  you  do  are  quite  patient  with  the  know- 
ledge you  have,  but  which  is  ignorance  compared  with  their 
wisdom.  They  know  that  the  blend  of  knowledge  and  ignor- 
ance which  you  possess  is  the  blend  appropriate  to  your  stage 
of  evolution,  and  that  you  can  help  efficiently  many  people 
who  are  at  a  lower  level.  But  however  certain  you  may  be  of 
your  own  infallibility  people  wiser  than  yourself  will  never 
allow  you  to  influence  them,  as  to  their  own  thoughts  and 
actions,  except  in  special  matters  on  which  you  have  acquired 
information  more  accurate  than  their  own.  Similarly,  you 
must  be  careful  not  to  fall  into  the  illusion  that  because  any 
one  speaks  with  conviction,  therefore  he  is  right.  You  must 
use  your  discrimination.  Many  people  are  very  lazy,  and 
subsist  on  thoughts  which  come  to  them  from  the  outside 
without  caring  to  exercise  their  own  powers  in  determining 
what  to  accept  and  what  to  reject.  "Orthodoxy"  is  one 
name  for  this  laziness ; ' '  custom, "  "  conventionality, ' '  are  other 
names.  I  gather  these  under  the  heading  "laziness"  because 
you  would  be  lazy  were  you  to  allow  yourself  to  follow  the 
smooth  and  beaten  road  trodden  by  the  majority  of  mankind. 
If  the  Master  speaks  of  a  "  Path "  it  is  because  it  is  a  "  Path ' ' 
and  not  a  road ;  because  few  there  be  that  tread  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  while  using  your  discrimination,  you  will  re- 
member that  the  more  limited  knowledge  of  those  who  do 
not  know  may  be  adequate  to  the  instruction  of  people  less 

30 


evolved  than  themselves.  For  example,  the  Master  tells  us 
that  no  ceremonies  are  necessary.  Therefore  we  may  do  with- 
out them.  But  to  some  ceremonies  may  be  necessary,  and  it 
would  be  very  undiscriminative  to  think  contemptuously  of 
people  who  find  much  value  in  ceremonial,  or  of  priests  who 
inculcate  it.  Let  others  grow  as  suits  them,  only  neither 
imagine  that  because  "everybody"  thinks  in  one  particular 
way  therefore  you  must  think  in  that  way  also,  nor  be  so  lazy 
in  thought  that  because  some  people  are  positive  that  they 
are  right  and  express  themselves  emphatically  therefore  you 
allow  yourself  to  be  influenced  by  a  nature  more  positive  than 
your  own.  Keen  and  independent  thinking  is  an  essential 
feature  in  the  character  of  one  who  would  tread  the  Path,  for, 
however  much  the  Master  may  help  him,  in  the  long  run  his 
rock  of  certainty  must  be  based  on  the  God  within  himself, 
and  a  time  comes  for  students  who  are  treading  the  Path 
when  all  external  help  seems  to  fail  and  strength  must  per- 
force be  drawn  from  within.  Let  me  finally  observe  that  you 
should  not  rush  to  the  conclusion  that  you  must  forswear 
completely  all  that  to  you  is  no  longer  necessary.  It  may  be 
your  duty  to  take  part  in  ceremonies  for  the  sake  of  others 
who  still  need  them.  It  may  be  your  duty  to  surround  your- 
self with  many  customs,  conventionalities  and  orthodoxies, 
but  only  for  the  sake  of  others.  Your  primary  duty  is  ser- 
vice, and  you  will  not  be  a  successful  teacher  unless  you  modi- 
fy your  teaching  to  suit  the  intelligence  of  your  class.  Neither 
will  you  be  a  successful  teacher,  however,  unless  your  know- 
ledge is  far  in  advance  of  that  of  your  class,  and  while  you 
may  yourself  use  crutches  to  show  a  lame  man  how  to  support 
himself  you  will  not  therefore  use  them  at  other  times  as  well. 
If  you  confine  yourself  within  outgrown  forms,  except  in 
order  to  help,  you  are  indeed  lazy,  but  there  is  no  laziness  on 
the  part  of  those  for  whom  such  forms  exist.  So,  while 
avoiding  laziness  yourself  you  will  remember  that  others  find 
a  temporary  salvation  in  that  which  to  you  would  be  stagna- 
tion, and  you  will  minister  to  their  needs  by  giving  them  that 
vhich  will  help  them  best. 

31 


The  Eeal  Knowledge 

Now  what  is  this  knowledge,  which  should  mark  you  off 
from  those  who  do  not  know?  I  have  already  told  you  that 
it  partly  consists  in  being  able  to  distinguish  between  that 
which  is  fleeting  and  that  which  endures.  Indeed,  throughout 
this  little  book  the  Master  is  continually  explaining  to  us  by 
way  of  contrast  how  the  real  differs  from  the  unreal.  For 
example :  ' i  you  must  discriminate  between  the  selfish  and  the 
unselfish,"  "feel  no  anger  or  impatience,"  "never  allow 
yourself  to  feel  sad  or  depressed."  Why?  Because  if  you 
do  feel  anger  or  impatience  or  depression  you  are  for  the 
time  living  in  something  which  will  pass  away,  while  in  the 
long  run  serenity  and  cheerfulness  will  carry  you  to  your 
goal.  So  the  answer  to  my  question  is  partly  to  be  found  in 
the  study  of  these  contrasts.  But  the  Master  also  points  out 
that  the  really  "important  thing  is  ...  .  the  knowledge  of 
God's  plan  for  men."  All  the  qualities  which  you  have  to 
acquire  are,  of  course,  part  of  God's  plan  for  men.  But 
the  qualities  are  to  be  acquired  for  a  purpose.  "For 
God  has  a  plan  and  that  plan  is  evolution,"  and  the 
qualities  you  are  slowly  building  into  your  nature  are 
intended  so  to  purify  it  that  it  may  be  "in  tune  with  the 
Infinite,"  in  harmony  with  the  working  of  God's  own  nature. 
The  laws  of  nature  are  the  rules  of  evolution,  the  signs  of 
God  becoming  self-conscious  in  every  spark  of  His  Being, 
and  you  must  understand  these  laws  so  as  to  be  "on  God's 
side,  standing  for  good  and  resisting  evil,  working  for  evolu- 
tion and  not  for  selfishness."  Certain  of  these  laws  are  already 
known  to  the  world.  We  speak  of  the  laws  of  science,  the 
laws  of  art,  the  laws  of  literature;  we  know  of  the  law  of 
gravitation  and  of  other  laws  relating  to  matter.  These  you 
must  study  sooner  or  later,  if  not  in  this  life  then  in  another ; 
for  you  cannot  help  perfectly  unless  you  know  God's  laws  for 
His  unf  oldment.  But  we  are  not  concerned  with  these  particu- 
lar laws  at  present,  for  the  Master  guides  us  to  begin  from 
within    rather    than    from    without.       First    learn    some- 

32 


thing  about  the  laws  of  the  spirit,  and  the  laws  of  matter 
are  seen  to  be  but  their  reflection  in  grosser  form.  Under- 
stand the  basis  of  the  spiritual  life  and  you  will  the  more  easily 
familiarise  yourselves  with  the  principles  of  the  arts  and 
sciences  as  at  present  known.  Moreover,  the  world  will  give 
you  the  latter,  while,  except,  perhaps,  in  Hindu  philosophy, 
there  is  as  yet  little  science  of  the  soul  worthy  of  the  name. 

The  Laws  op  the  Higher  Life 

"We  younger  souls  can  know  but  little  of  these  higher 
laws — "laws  of  the  higher  life,"  as  Mrs.  Besant  has  called 
them — and  I  cannot,  therefore,  hope  to  enumerate  even  a 
very  few.  But  the  Master  gives  us  several  hints  as  to  where 
to  look  for  them,  and  His  suggestions  will  help  us  to  gain  a 
general  idea  of  the  kind  of  laws  we  may  expect  to  find.  He 
says :  *  *  All  are  one,  and  . . .  only  what  the  One  wills  can  really 
be  pleasant  for  anyone."  Here  is  a  law  of  unity.  "All  are  one." 
Therefore  "only  what  the  One  wills  can  ever  be  really  pleas- 
ant for  any  one" — the  law  of  a  common  purpose.  We  share  a 
common  brotherhood  and  are  moving  towards  a  common  goal. 
If  your  discrimination  has  led  you  to  this  you  are  on  the  right 
road,  for,  says  the  Master,  "this  discrimination  is  the  first 
step."  These  two  laws  of  our  being  give  the  key  to  the  state- 
ment that  "those  who  are  on  His  side  know  why  they  are  here 
and  what  they  should  do."  They  are  here  because  the  God 
within  them  wills  them  to  be  here,  and  they  know  that  what 
they  have  to  do  is  to  combine  with  others  in  the  effort  to  reach 
the  common  goal.  I  do  not  suggest  that  our  knowledge  of  these 
two  laws  is  clear  and  definite.  We  but  dimly  sense  them, 
and  the  object  of  developing  qualifications  is  that  we  may 
gain  a  clearer  understanding.  Nevertheless,  when  we  are 
nearest  to  our  higher  natures,  nearest  to  that  part  of  the  One 
which  dwells  within  us,  we  are  sure  of  these  laws,  however 
much  we  may  sometimes  "act  foolishly  and  try  to  invent  ways" 
for  ourselves  which  we  think  will  be  pleasant  for  ourselves. 
Now  what  evidences  have  we  of  the  working  of  these 
two  laws?  First,  the  ever-growing  appreciation  of  the  value 
f  brotherhood  as  conducive  to  peace  and  happiness.    I  need 


33 


not  give  examples  from  the  outer  world,  for  you  can  think 
of  many  yourselves.  The  world  is  taking  slow  but  unmis- 
takable steps  on  the  road  towards  the  goal  of  brotherhood, 
and  because  life  is  all  the  better  for  these  steps  we  know  that 
the  One  is  willing  us  to  take  them.  Then  again,  we  know  from 
the  statements  of  philanthropists,  mystics,  seers,  founders  of 
movements  intended  to  spread  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  that 
the  moments  of  real  and  therefore  abiding  joy  come  when  they 
share  what  they  are  and  have  with  others.  There  comes  the 
sense  of  a  larger  life,  of  a  freer  spirit,  when  we  share  with 
others  and  when  we  live  for  them.  The  selfish  man  gains  no 
lasting  pleasure  from  acts  of  selfishness,  though  he  may 
doubtless  experience  temporary  thrills  at  each  successful  self- 
seeking.  But  these  thrills  are  followed  by  reaction,  and  the 
more  the  selfish  man  gains  the  less  he  is  satisfied,  until  in 
despair  at  the  impossibility  of  satisfying  his  increasing  crav- 
ings he  seeks  some  other  road.  The  joy  of  sharing  is  far  dif- 
ferent from  the  fleeting  exultation  at  having  gained  at  an- 
other's expense.  The  joy  of  sharing  has  no  reaction,  is  fol- 
lowed by  no  unhappiness,  brings  an  ever-increasing  peace 
and  an  ever-growing  power  of  giving  more.  Unselfishness — 
that  is  to  say,  working  for  the  larger  self  instead  of  for  the 
smaller — is  its  own  reward,  while  selfishness  must  ever  seek 
outside  itself  for  a  reward  which  becomes  more  and  more 
elusive  as  time  goes  on.  Are  these  facts  not  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  the  statement  "that  only  what  the  One  wills  can 
ever  be  really  pleasant  for  any  one,"  since  the  more  we  live 
for  an  increasing  number  of  others  not  only  do  we  grow  the 
happier  but  we  are  thereby  expressing  more  of  the  One  who 
is  in  us  all?  The  more  we  identify  the  One  with  ourselves 
the  happier  we  become. 

Service  is  the  Heart  of  Sacrifice 

Let  us  try  now  to  see  a  little  more  clearly  the  nature  of 
that  Will  which  governs  the  world.  We  see  at  once  that  the 
Will  of  the  One  is  a  perpetual  sacrifice,  for  our  own  sacrifices 
lead  us  nearer  to  Him.  Not  a  sacrifice  involving  regret,  but  a 
joyful  sacrifice,  though  doubtless  involving  pain,  for  without 

34 


the  contrast  of  pain  the  beauty  of  the  joy  would  be  the  less.  It 
is  all  sacrifice — willing  or  unwilling.  The  servant  who  min- 
isters to  the  needs  of  the  household,  the  tradesmen  who  sup- 
ply us  with  food,  the  officers  of  the  government  who  admin- 
ister the  State,  the  teacher  who  teaches  and  the  scholar  who 
learns — all  perform  daily  acts  of  sacrifice,  and  the  degree  of 
happiness  in  the  sacrifice  determines  the  nearness  of  the  doer 
to  the  One  whose  great  sacrifice  is  in  training  each  one  of  us- — 
parts  of  Him — to  become  self-conscious  of  His  and  our  divin- 
ity. In  the  East,  great  stress  is  laid  on  sacrifice — and  part  of 
the  regular  daily  duty  consists  in  offering  sacrifice  to  the  An- 
cestors, to  the  Angels  (Devas),  to  the  animals  and  so  forth. 
Of  course,  we  do  not  go  through  life  thinking  of 
each  act  as  a  sacrifice,  for  we  have  acquired  the  evil  habit 
of  imagining  that  a  sacrifice  involves  denying  ourselves  some 
pleasure,  and  thus  many  try  to  avoid  sacrifice  for  fear  lest 
the  joy  of  life  be  lost,  when  in  fact  the  true  spirit  of  sac- 
rifice secures  to  us  abiding  peace.  "We  must  make  some 
sacrifices  for  our  son's  education' '  —  "You  must  sac- 
rifice something,  if  you  want  this  or  that."  A  sacri- 
fice only  involves  the  giving  up  of  something  lower, 
never  of  something  higher,  and  if  our  servants,  our 
officials,  our  teachers,  our  students,  our  tradesmen,  above  all 
ourselves,  lived  lives  in  which  the  dominating  purpose  was 
sacrifice — the  sacrifice  of  the  lower  on  the  altar  of  the  higher 
— our  work  would  be  far  better  done,  and  the  world  would  be 
a  far  happier  place  to  live  in.  There  is  no  trade,  no  profes- 
sion, no  calling  of  any  kind,  no  act  however  trivial,  which 
does  not  gain  beauty  if  performed  in  a  true  spirit  of  sacrifice 
— as  an  offering  to  the  Lord.  This  is  indeed  a  difficult  task 
for  us  all,  but  we  must  make  a  beginning,  and  the  best  way 
is  to  perform  every  day  a  conscious  act  of  sacrifice — an  act 
deliberately  performed  in  the  name  of,  and  in  homage  to,  the 
Great  Sacrificer  through  whose  own  act  of  sacrifice  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being.  The  Boy  Scouts  speak  of  a 
"good  turn,"  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Empire  enjoin 
"a  daily  act  of  service" — these  are  true  sacrifices,  for  ser- 
vice is  the  heart  of  sacrifice. 


vice  is  me 


35 


The  Higher  and  the  Lower  Self 

All  sacrifice,  if  of  value,  must  be  ordered  sacrifice,  and 
the  more  we  learn  of  the  laws  under  which  it  acts  the  more 
effective  our  sacrifice  will  be.  Many  volumes  might,  indeed, 
be  written  by  a  competent  authority  on  the  principles  of  sac- 
rifice, and  most  fascinating  volumes  they  would  be.  But  with- 
in the  limits  of  these  talks  I  must  confine  myself  to  one  or 
two  special  laws  of  the  higher  life  which  it  is  essential  for 
you  to  know. 

In  the  first  place,  your  principal  duty  is  to  realize  that 
the  individual  you  call  "I"  is  only  a  portion  of  that  real  "I" 
which  is  a  spark  in  the  flame  of  God.  In  other  words  there  is 
the  eternal  "I"  which  sends  forth  a  feeler  into  this  outer 
world  to  gain  all  that  the  outer  world  can  give.  The  feeler 
is  not  the  "I,"  any  more  than  the  root  is  the  whole  tree. 
There  is  more  of  you  than  ensouls  your  waking  consciousness 
in  your  physical  body,  and  it  is  this  bigger  "you"  which 
guides  you  to  those  experiences  in  which  your  life  is  passed. 
You  may  call  this  bigger  "you"  your  higher  self  if  you  wish, 
but  do  not  identify  it  with  the  lower  vehicles  in  which  it  has 
to  live.  The  higher  self  desires  only  the  purest  form  of  life, 
has  no  leanings  in  the  direction  of  your  weaknesses,  is  not 
cast  down  by  your  failures,  and  above  all  knows  on  its  own 
plane  of  existence  all  that  the  lower  "you"  has  to  learn 
down  here.  Many  young  people  think  that  the  higher  self 
ought  to  have  been  content  with  its  knowledge.  But  the  sac- 
rifice is  not  complete  until  knowledge  is  everywhere,  until 
divinity  is  self  conscious  in  all  its  parts.  God  is  all-knowing 
on  His  own  plane,  but  He  desires  that  His  own  self -conscious- 
ness shall  awaken  on  all  the  planes  of  His  Being  so  that  we — 
the  cells  of  His  Body — becoming  awake  to  the  divinity  in 
which  we  share  may  by  the  very  act  of  awakening  become 
Gods  ourselves.  First,  however,  we  must  master  the  various 
grades  of  matter  from  the  highest,  which  is  hardly  matter  at 
all  but  rather  spirit,  down  to  the  matter  of  which  our  phy- 
sical bodies  are  composed,  and  perhaps  lower  still. 

36 


The  Flowering  of  Our  Divinity 

Having  mastered  them,  we  may  one  by  one  cast  them 
aside,  until  we  live  on  the  highest  plane  of  spiritual  existence, 
on  the  plane  of  Divinity,  only  to  come  forth  when  the  time 
approaches  for  an  act  of  sacrifice  like  unto  that  which  God 
Himself  is  making  now.  This  lies  in  the  infinite  future,  but 
it  is  certain — so  certain  that  even  at  this  stage  of  our  growth 
we  can  notice  that  the  God  within  us,  our  higher  nature,  is 
gradually  acquiring  mastery  over  the  lower  vehicles  through 
which  He  comes  into  definite  contact  with  the  lower  planes. 
Daily  He  works,  and  while  self-control  takes  long  to  practise, 
and  the  instruments  do  not  always  function  as  they  should, 
nevertheless  every  day  sees  some  advance  for  each  one  of  us, 
and  there  is  none  so  low  or  so  degraded  that  he  is  not  rising 
according  to  the  measure  of  his  possibility.  I  want  you,  if 
you  will,  to  remember  this  overwhelmingly  strengthening  fact 
as  often  as  you  can — that  within  you  is  perfection  undevel- 
oped, a  bud  to  become  a  flower.  But  the  bud  is  there,  and  in 
your  worst  moments,  when  you  feel  that  you  have  failed 
utterly  and,  perhaps,  irretrievably,  the  perfection-to-be  still 
remains  within  you  and  is  the  constant  source  from  which 
fresh  effort  to  lead  the  higher  life  must  keep  on  coming 
no  matter  what  you  do.  Immersed  in  matter  as  we  are,  sur- 
rounded by  the  objects  of  the  senses,  we  become  confused, 
imagine  that  we  are  lost  within  their  whirl.  But  the  matter 
which  surrounds  us,  of  which  our  lower  bodies  are  consti- 
tuted, and  the  objects  of  the  senses — whether  mental,  astral 
or  physical — are  themselves  only  waiting  to  be  controlled. 
Master  them,  ray  upon  them  your  divinity,  and  they  become 
powers  for  use  instead  of  forces  to  be  fought  and  of  which, 
perhaps,  to  be  afraid. 


37 


CHAPTER    IV 
THERE  IS  TIME  TO  ACHIEVE  PERFECTION 

I  think  that  the  truth  I  have  endeavoured  to  express 
in  the  preceding  talk  is  of  vital  importance,  for  the  more  we 
meditate  on  it  the  more  real  it  becomes,  and  we  begin  to  realise 
that  however  far  off  we  may  be  from  the  successful  practice 
of  the  qualifications  as  given  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master,  per- 
fection must  some  day  come  and  with  it  the  happiness  of  per- 
fect service. 

Time  for  accomplishment  is,  indeed,  necessary,  but  if 
one  law  of  our  being  is  that  there  is  a  divinity  within  us 
gradually  unfolding  into  its  perfect  flower,  another  law  tells 
us  that  the  unfoldment  takes  place  slowly  but  surely  (i)  in 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  action  and  re-action,  or 
cause  and  effect,  (ii)  through  a  continuous  series  of  dippings 
down  into  and  withdrawals  from  the  matter  of  the  lower 
planes,  in  other  words — reincarnation.  Let  us  glance  at 
this  law  of  time  which,  within  itself,  involves  the  opportunity 
as  well,  since  time  would  be  valueless  without  the  possibility  of 
making  use  of  it.  Expressing  the  law  in  other  terms  we 
might  say  that  the  unfoldment  of  the  divinity  within  us  takes 
place  under  the  coercion  of  experience — experience  which  is 
ever  sifting  the  real  from  the  unreal,  the  permanent  from  the 
temporary.  In  Christian  phraseology  we  are  told  that  as 
we  sow  so  shall  we  reap,  Hinduism  speaks  of  Karma,  a  Theo- 
sophist  might  talk  of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect.  Put  plainly, 
the  law  states  that  as  we  think  and  act  so  shall  we  become, 
and,  as  time  is  needed  if  we  are  to  think  and  act  perfectly,  we 
are  continually  being  immersed  in  the  densest  matter  of  our 
globes  in  order  by  degrees  to  become  indifferent  to  it  and  there- 
fore its  master.  The  life  you  are  leading  now,  the  body  in 
which  this  latest  immersion  has  taken  place,  are  only  incidents 
in  a  long  series  of  lives.    You  have  had  many  lives  before,  and 

38 


you  have  used  many  bodies  before.  Between  each  life  you 
have,  as  it  were,  made  up  your  debit  and  credit  accounts  in- 
curred during  the  lifetime  on  earth ;  and  then,  with  an  ever- 
increasing  spiritual  balance,  using  this  word  in  its  financial 
sense,  you  go  into  physical  plane  business  again,  both  to  pay 
off  old  debts,  to  acquire  new  ones,  and  thus  to  amass  an  in- 
creasing spiritual  fortune.  As  by  degrees  the  new  debts  be- 
come less  and  less  and  your  wisdom  grows  more  and  more — 
you  keep  on  doing  this  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years,  for  millions  of  years  if  you  take  into  con- 
sideration the  sleep-life,  the  dream-life,  and  the  dawn- 
ing wakefulness  in  the  mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  king- 
doms respectively.  God  gave  you  the  capital  to  start  with — 
your  spiritual  possibilities;  and  though  from  time  to  time 
your  capital  may  seem  to  have  become  very  much  tied  up,  it 
can  never  be  utterly  unreachable  since  He  will  temporarily 
withdraw  you  from  active  partnership  in  the  business  in 
which  He  is  engaged  if  you  act  so  recklessly  that  you  cannot 
be  trusted  to  manage  [your  and  His]  affairs  properly.  Indeed, 
you  might  conceivably  be  required  to  make  a  fresh  start,  not 
perhaps  at  the  beginning,  but  some  little  way  back  from  the 
place  at  which  you  began  to  grow  improvident.  This  is  prob- 
ably a  comparatively  rare  event,  for  most  of  us  are  develop- 
ing our  capital  by  slow  but  sure  degrees. 

The  Two  Laws  of  the  Higher  Life 

The  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  each  one  of  us  ulti- 
mately attains  perfection  is  of  the  utmost  value  and  import- 
ance, since  not  only  can  we  never  be  completely  overwhelmed 
by  despair  or  reduce  the  power  of  drawing  on  our  capital 
almost  to  the  vanishing  point  through  an  insensate  accumu- 
lation of  debts,  but  we  are  able  to  give  the  most  strengthening 
assistance  to  those  who  see  nothing  before  them  but  debts 
due  and  only  the  generosity  of  the  great  Creator — however 
certain — to  depend  upon,  if  even  that.  And  as  it  is  so  im- 
portant to  grasp  as  clearly  as  we  can  the  essential  features 
of  the  laws  of  the  higher  life,  let  me  recapitulate  brieflly  the 

39 


truths  so  far  stated.  First,  the  unity  of  all.  If  I  may 
be  allowed  to  use  the  simile  of  a  banking  establishment,  I 
would  say  that  the  Euler  of  our  world*  is  the  supreme  Direc- 
tor of  a  great  family  spiritual  banking  concern.  He  Himself 
started  with  capital  He  had  developed  through  experience  in 
countless  previous  ages,  capital  which  originally  came  from 
God,  as  does  all  capital.  His  function  is  to  enable  all  the  mem- 
bers of  His  family  to  develop  their  capital  as  He  has  developed 
His.  He  is,  as  it  were,  pledged  so  to  arrange  His  business  that 
sooner  or  later  every  member  of  His  family  must,  even  though 
failure  come  time  after  time,  eventually  develop  his  capital 
to  its  utmost  value.  Herein  lies  both  the  unity  and  the  state- 
ment of  the  second  law — the  existence  of  a  common  goal.  In- 
deed the  first  law  involves  the  second,  for  unity  would  not  be 
complete  unless  our  destinies  were  common,  unless  the  future 
involves  the  same  unity  as  did  the  past  to  which  we  trace 
our  common  source.  I  have  called  this  common  destiny  per- 
fection, and,  using  words  to  express  the  simile  of  the  bank- 
ing concern,  I  might  say  that  the  object  of  the  firm  is  to  de- 
velop for  each  of  its  partners  a  substantial  spiritual  capital, 
so  that  each  partner  may,  in  course  of  time,  set  up  in  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account.  Then  comes  the  question:  How 
does  each  partner  reach  this  level?  The  answer  is  as  clear 
in  the  spiritual  world  as  it  is  in  the  actual  business  industry 
on  the  physical  plane.  Through  experience;  in  course  of 
time;  by  setting  up  in  business  in  a  very  small  way  to  start 
with,  after  going  through  a  certain  amount  of  preliminary 
training ;  by  accumulating  a  large  number  of  debts  which  are 
not  only  hard  to  pay  off  but  take  time  to  pay  off  too.  What 
was  the  first  stage  which  I  mentioned  in  the  very  beginning 
of  this  series  of  talks?  Individualisation — the  passing  from 
the  animal  to  the  human  kingdom.  Before  this,  the  partner 
was  only  a  sleeping  partner.    He  was  learning  the  rudiments 

*  I  distinguish  between  the  terms  "God"  and  "The  Ruler  of  our  world".  By 
the  word  "God"  I  mean  the  divine  principle  animating  all  life  everywhere — God. 
the  Father.  "The  Ruler  of  our  world",  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  official  wh© 
is  at  the  head  of  the  Great  White  Lodge,  the  Highest  of  its  members,  alone  in  His 
rank.  Mightier  than  all  others,  not  a  member  of  our  own  humanity  at  all,  He  is 
God's  Regent  upon  this  earth.  In  Hindu  scriptures  He  is  mentioned  under  the 
name  of  SANAT  KUMARA. 

40 


of  subjects  whose  deeper  study  would  come  later  on.  He  was 
hardly  in  the  business  at  all — a  shareholder,  truly,  but  with 
no  more  conscious  share  in  the  business  than  has  a  bank  man- 
ager's baby  an  active  share  in  his  father's  affairs.  But  the 
baby  grows  and  becomes  a  young  boy  with  a  vague 
idea  as  to  what  his  father  is.  The  newly  individualised 
man  has  a  vague  idea  as  to  the  existence  of  a  purpose 
in  life  around  him,  but  he  cares  nothing  for  it  as  yet 
save  as  it  affects  his  personal  and  immediate  well-being. 
But  in  time  comes  the  second  stage — the  awakening  of 
conscience.  The  youth  becomes  a  clerk  in  his  father's 
firm,  begins  at  the  lowest  rank,  has  very  little  responsibility. 
By  degrees  he  is  entrusted  with  small  portions  of  his  capital 
on  which  to  experiment,  he  is  sent  out  into  the  world  to  see 
what  he  can  do  with  the  capital  (conscience)  of  whose  ex- 
istence he  has  been  hitherto  unaware.  "I  have  a  conscience, 
I  have  the  power  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong. 
Hitherto  I  have  shared  unthinkingly  in  the  universal  con- 
science of  which  my  own  is  a  part,  but  now  I  know  that  I 
have  a  conscience  of  my  own  and  I  must  use  it  and  make  as 
much  of  it  as  I  can,  so  that  it  may  grow  big  and  strong."  So 
the  shareholder,  now  increasingly  conscious  of  being  not 
only  a  shareholder  to  receive  dividends  but  a  partner  to  pro- 
duce them,  goes  out  into  the  world — the  lower  planes — as  an 
active  agent  and  builder  of  his  own  fortunes. 

Just  as  a  business  man  goes  home,  after  office  hours  are 
over,  to  rest  from  the  day's  labours,  to  think  over  what  good 
and  what  bad  business  he  has  done  during  the  day,  and  to 
enjoy  happiness  with  those  dear  to  him,  so  each  one  of  us 
after  one  life  is  over  rests  in  other  worlds  and  gathers  fresh 
energy — born  of  striving  in  lives  gone  by — for  the  life  to 
come,  for  the  new  "day"  of  business  on  the  physical  plane. 
"We  cannot  in  one  day  develop  all  the  capital  required.  We 
have  to  learn  how  to  employ  it,  what  transactions  to  avoid, 
what  transactions  are  profitable,  and  the  time  taken  is  the 
expression  of  the  law  of  reincarnation.  But  not  only  do  we 
need  time,  we  need  also  experience.     We  must  suffer  from 

41 


the  bad  transactions  and  reap  happiness  from  the  good  ones. 
Unless  we  see  results,  we  shall  not  know  how  to  compare  the 
relative  values  of  various  transactions,  of  whose  nature  we 
know  for  the  time  being  nothing.  It  is  the  result  far  more 
than  the  cause  that  tells  us  the  nature  of  the  cause  itself. 
The  law  of  cause  and  effect  states  that  as  the  cause  is  so  the 
result  will  be,  but  in  actual  experience  we  first  learn  that  as 
the  result  is,  so  the  cause  must  have  been  also.  It  is 
only  after  experiencing  many  results  that  we  either  avoid 
their  cause  or  set  it  in  motion,  according  as  to  whether  it 
brings  happiness  or  pain.  Even  then  we  are  temporarily  sat- 
isfied with  causes  which  produce  results  whose  pleasure-pro- 
ducing power  is  but  very  limited.  We  are,  in  other  words, 
content  with  the  immediate  however  fleeting,  provided  it  sat- 
isfies for  the  moment.  This  is  the  case  with  most  people,  and 
places  them  within  the  ranks  of  those  who  do  not  know.  You 
will  remember,  however,  that  there  is  a  third  stage — the  stage 
at  which  the  individual  definitely  pledges  himself  to  a  cer- 
tain line  of  conduct,  at  which  he  shows  himself  as  among 
those  who  are  at  least  learning  to  know,  by  passing  through 
Initiation  into  the  wider  life  beyond.  He  is  the  partner 
who,  having  shown  himself  capable  of  wisely  managing  his 
capital  within  comparatively  narrow  limits,  is  not  only  given 
opportunities  of  developing  it  much  more  rapidly  and  widely 
than  would  normally  be  possible,  but  is  allowed  to  share  the 
responsibilities  devolving  upon  the  directors  of  the  firm 
itself,  those  whose  business  it  is,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Ruler,  to  help  the  junior  partners  to  gain  the  necessary  ex- 
perience. A  young  director,  truly,  but  none  the  less  a  direc- 
tor, though  there  are  those  above  him  with  still  greater  re- 
sponsibilities upon  their  shoulders — those  who  belong  to  the 
ranks  of  the  higher  Initiates. 

The  Eoad  of  Evolution 
In  this  way  are  the  various  stages  passed,  and  the  indi- 
vidual gradually  learns  how  to  develop  his  spiritual  capital 
so  as  one  day,  in  the  far-off  distant  future,  to  become  the 
head  of  a  firm  himself,  a  Ruler  in  a  universe.    We  already 

42 


know  that  the  one  class  of  transactions  which  is  profitable, 
using  this  word  in  its  best  sense,  is  the  class  involving  the 
service  which  is  the  heart  of  sacrifice.  God  is  the  great  Sac- 
rifice^ for,  instead  of  living  on  His  capital  He  not  only 
shares  it  among  us  all,  but  trains  us,  through  the  Ruler  of 
our  world,  to  develop  our  capital  to  the  utmost.  Without  ir- 
reverence may  I  say  that  even  our  mighty  Ruler  Himself  is 
the  greater  for  the  sacrifice  He  makes  in  guiding  our  evolu- 
tion, and  grows  at  his  exalted  level  into  still  further  spiritual 
splendour.  When  we  reach  the  level  at  which  He  made  the 
great  and  supreme  Sacrifice  of  remaining  to  toil  when  He 
might  have  passed  on  to  enjoy,  at  which  the  development  of 
our  spiritual  capital  has  been  such  as  to  enable  us  to  make 
this  stupendous  outlay,  we  too  shall  make  the  sacrifice  and 
win  its  reward.  To  do  so,  we  must  pass  through  all  the  in- 
tervening sacrifices  step  by  step,  the  less  leading  to  the  greater ; 
and  only  as  we  serve  and  sacrifice  in  proportion  to  the  capi- 
tal we  have  can  we  hope  to  develop  the  capital  and  so  increase 
the  service.  The  art  of  service — should  I  not  rather  call  it  the 
"science" — is  not,  however,  to  be  learned  in  a  day,  or  within 
the  brief  space  of  one  lifetime.  First  comes  the  service  of 
the  smaller  self.  The  whole  tendency  in  modern  times,  as 
far  as  the  West  is  concerned,  and  increasingly  so  in  the  East, 
has  been  to  force  the  individual  to  emphasise  himself.  He 
has  been  learning  through  competition  of  all  kinds,  through 
strife,  through  the  dictates  of  personal  ambition,  to  consider 
his  own  welfare  and  that,  perhaps,  of  those  immediately  de- 
pendent upon  him.  Personal  wealth,  personal  power,  per- 
sonal influence,  personal  ability — all  have  been  pursued,  and 
the  futility  of  all  save  as  used  for  wider  service  is  the  lesson 
learned.  Often  at  the  close  of  a  life  devoted  to  such  pursuits, 
a  man  has  at  last  seen  how  little  true  happiness  they  have 
given  him  through  life,  and  hurriedly  he  strives  to  tread  the 
other  path  by  lavishing  his  gains  upon  a  world  from  which 
erstwhile  he  took  them.  If  there  were  no  other  lives,  the  act 
would  be  too  late,  for  you  cannot  atone  in  a  year  for  a  life- 
time of  selfishness.     But  the  future  is  before  him,  and  per- 


43 


haps  the  lesson  has  so  been  learned  that  in  the  period  of  rest 
between  that  life  and  the  next  he  will  have  had  the  leisure 
(and  the  clearer  vision  the  inner  planes  allow)  to  decide 
upon  a  life  less  circumscribed  than  that  which  he  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  his  own  small  self.  Payment  will  indeed  be 
exacted  for  all  harm  done,  the  debts  on  the  mistaken  transac 
tions  must  be  paid  in  full,  but  not  only  has  he  time  in  which  to 
pay  them,  but  also  time  and  opportunity  in  which  to  plan  fresh 
schemes  to  harmonise  with  the  wider  vision  he  has  gained  :* 

Much  more  might  be  written  on  these  great  and  dom- 
inant truths.  Many  other  laws  might  have  been  mentioned, 
and  innumerable  are  the  ways  of  their  application.  But  I 
can  only  hope  that  you  will  think  over  these  things  and  fill 
in  for  yourselves  the  gaps  I  have  been  forced  to  leave  un- 
filled. In  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  we  are  taught  to  dis- 
criminate between  transactions  which  are  profitable  and 
those  which  are  not.  We  are  shown,  as  it  were,  how  to  invest 
our  capital  so  that  it  may  multiply.  Invest  in  a  kind  thought, 
feeling,  word  or  action,  and  much  will  come  to  you  in  return 
— above  all,  an  increased  power  to  think,  feel,  speak  and  act 
kindly.  Invest  in  selfishness  and  your  capital — your  power 
— diminishes.  As  your  capital  diminishes — perhaps  it  would 
be  more  accurate  to  say  "is  increasingly  neglected" — your  own 
happiness,  as  well  as  that  of  others,  proportionately  di- 
minishes, until  you  become  so  barren  of  happiness  that  in 
despair  you  seek  another  road  than  that  of  selfishness. 

*  Compare  the  growth  of  the  soul  to  a  house  with  a  large  number  of  win- 
dows and  doors,  most  of  which  are  closed.  Outside,  the  sun  is  shining,  but  into 
one  or  two  rooms  only  do  the  rays  at  first  enter.  Gradually,  the  occupier  of  the 
house — the  soul — begins  to  appreciate  the  life-giving  warmth  from  the  sun, 
though  he  still  lives  partly  in  the  darkness  and  imagines  it  to  be  all  he  needs. 
But  when  he  goes  into  the  rooms  whose  windows  and  doors  he  has  opened  to  the 
sunlight,  the  contrast  between  the  darkness  and  the  light  begins  to  strike  him. 
G-oing  back  into  the  darkness,  he  remembers  the  light  and  looks  for  the  windows 
and  doors  so  that  he  may  open  them  too.  Room  after  room  is  brightened,  until 
the  house  is  hardly  a  house  at  all — only  a  number  of  walls  between  the  doorg 
and  windows — and  serves  but  the  purpose  of  concentrating  the  sunlight  within 
its  limits.  The  house  is  the  lower  part  of  man — his  mental,  emotional  and  physi- 
cal bodies.  Each  room  is  a  power  or  faculty,  and  the  owner  of  the  house  is  the 
higher  self — the  ego,  the  soul.  The  darker  the  house  the  greater  the  unhealthiness, 
the  greater  the  dirt,  the  greater  the  sordidness.  But  the  Master's  "houses"  are 
merely  passage  ways  for  the  sunlight,  and  Their  bodies  are  but  lenses — to  use 
another  simile — from  which  the  rays  of  life  spread  outwards  with  concentrated 
intensity.     Think  this  over  and  follow  its  symbolism  if  such  be  your  temperament. 

44 


NOTE 

The  whole  question  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  world,  as  to 
the  existence  of  God,  as  to  the  origin  of  being,  is  most  intri- 
cate, and  a  fruitful  source  of  mental  confusion.  A  young 
friend  of  my  acquaintance,  hearing  that  God  made  the  world, 
wanted  to  know  who  made  God,  and  his  question  was  most 
reasonable.  On  the  other  hand  it  would  be  better  policy  on 
the  part  of  parents  and  elders  to  realise  that  they  cannot 
expect  to  be  able  to  answer  every  question  put  to  them  by 
children ;  it  would  be  more  honest,  too.  Personally  I  take  the 
position  that  as  an  insignificant  unit  in  this  complex  world  I 
can  only  hope  to  understand  a  very  limited  portion  of  God's 
plan  for  men.  All  that  I  can  hope  to  acquire  is  a  compara- 
tively imperfect  working  hypothesis  adequate  to  my  tempera- 
ment and  destiny,  and  though  the  hypothesis  may  be  illumi- 
native to  others  they  must  nevertheless  think  out  their  own  hy- 
potheses for  themselves — building  in  such  features  in  the  hy- 
potheses of  others  as  may  harmonise  with  the  general  plan  of 
their  structure.  The  keystone  of  my  hypothesis  centers  round 
the  fact  that  there  is  sorrow  and  unhappiness  in  the  world,  and 
that  while  I  may  bring  a  certain  amount  of  physical  and 
emotional  consolation  and  strength  to  those  who  are  suscep- 
tible to  my  influence,  I  must  also  bring  mental  consolation 
and  strength — first  by  trying  to  understand  the  purpose  of 
existence  myself  and  then  by  applying  such  understanding 
as  I  may  have  acquired  to  the  helping  of  my  fellow-creatures 
both  practically  and  in  striving  to  assist  them,  too,  to  see  more 
clearly  the  splendour  of  their  future  however  it  may  be  hidden 
by  the  intervening  clouds  of  ignorance  and  discouragement. 

Let  me  just  restate  in  other  language  the  ideas  that  help 
me  in  establishing  my  hypothesis. 

A  God-Soul — conscious  of  Himself  as  Divine — lives  only 
on  the  plane  of  pure  divinity,  is  limited  by  no  matter  grosser 
than  that  of  the  plane  or  level  on  which  He  lives.  In  the 
infinite  past  He  has  been  as  we  ourselves  are  now,  a  spark 
heating  itself  into  flame  through  the  friction  of  matter  in  all 
its  forms  and  densities.    Now  a  Flame,  He  showers  out  sparks 

45 


— potential  flames — and  encloses  them  in  layer  after  layer  of 
denser  and  denser  matter — itself  the  substance  of  which  the 
flame  is  made.  In  course  of  time  the  spark  burns  through 
the  layers  one  by  one  and  in  the  process — we  call  it  experi- 
ence— gains  increasing  brilliance,  at  last  bursting  into  a 
glorious  Flame.  A  spark  from  a  fire  may,  appropriately 
placed,  become  itself  a  fire  similar  to  the  one  from  which  it 
came.  The  fanning  of  the  spark  is  accomplished  through  the 
laws  of  nature,  by  means  of  karma,  reincarnation,  and  all 
the  innumerable  actions  and  reactions,  connected  with  the 
world  outside  us,  which  we  undergo  incessantly.  The  very 
matter  in  which  we  are  embedded  is  itself  growing  so  that 
out  of  it  shall  come  sparks,  similar  to  those  which  are  our- 
selves. The  difference  between  the  matter  around  me,  the  trees, 
the  sea,  the  animals,  the  minerals,  is  that  within  me  is  con- 
centrated sufficient  of  God's  divine  heat  to  make  a  spark 
capable  of  expansion  into  a  separate  flame,  while  the  divinity 
ensouling  the  trees  and  the  animals  and  the  minerals  is  spread 
over  a  wider  area,  has  not  been  narrowed  down  and  focussed 
to  a  point.  A  number  of  animals,  a  larger  number  of  trees,  a 
still  greater  mass  of  metals,  share  the  heat  of  divinity  be- 
tween them,  and  ages  must  pass  before  any  individual  form 
shall,  through  the  experiences  of  its  class,  have  concentrated 
within  itself  such  heat  as  may  burst  into  a  spark ;  and  metals 
must  enter  the  vegetable  kingdom  for  further  sub-division 
and  thence  pass  to  the  animal  kingdom  for  further  sub- 
division still,  until  the  human  kingdom  is  reached  in  which 
each  unit  is  in  itself  a  spark. 

To  reach  God,  therefore,  we  must  become  Gods  ourselves, 
and  no  greater  reverence  can  be  offered  Him,  no  more  con- 
vincing testimony  to  His  omniscience  and  omnipotence,  than 
to  ascribe  to  Him  the  will  of  making  each  one  of  us  perfections 
in  His  own  image.  For  He  can  do  no  more  than  make  us  as 
Himself.  I  might  write  much  more  on  this,  even  that  which  I 
have  set  down  itself  bristles  with  difficulties  and  doubts  and 
possibilities,  bnt  perhaps  if  my  readers  think  it  over  they  may 
find  themselves  started  on  a  line  of  thought  which  may  bring 
order  into  a  world  of  apparent  chaos  and  purposelessness. 

46 


CHAPTEE    V 

THE  LIVING  OF  THE  LIFE 

The  Master  proceeds  to  point  out  "that  of  the  real  and  the 
unreal  there  are  many  varities,"  and  He  has  previously  men- 
tioned one  variety  when  He  observed  that  ' '  it  does  not  matter 
in  the  least  whether  [a  man]  calls  himself  a  Hindu  or  a  Bud- 
dhist, a  Christian  or  a  Muhammadan,  whether  he  is  an  Indian 
or  an  Englishman,  a  Chinaman  or  a  Russian.' '  For  "if  he  is 
on  God's  side  he  is  one  of  us."  Now  you  must  not  conclude 
from  this  statement  that  religion  does  not  matter,  has  very 
little  value ;  although  we  are  told  further  on  that  ceremonies 
do  not  matter  for  those  who  are  at  a  certain  stage  of  growth. 
Religion  matters  considerably,  but  truth  matters  infinitely 
more,  and  those  who  know — while  using  some  special  form  of 
the  truth  as  displayed  in  a  particular  religion — seek  the  truth 
within  the  form,  and  know  that  God — who  is  Truth  Incarnate 
— manifests  Himself  in  many  ways.  In  reality,  a  special 
form  of  religion  is  of  the  utmost  value  to  those  who  do  not  yet 
know  that  all  religions  spring  from  one  source — the  great 
Head  of  the  world's  teaching  department  who  is  even  now 
waiting  for  the  world  to  be  ready  to  receive  Him  once  more. 
Religion  makes  truth  tangible  to  those  who  have  still  to 
realise  that  there  are  many  roads  to  the  One,  on  each  of  which 
He  welcomes  His  devotee — to  quote  a  Hindu  scripture.  Most 
people  need  rules  of  life  to  be  imposed  from  without  before 
they  learn  to  evolve  them  from  within,  and  great  Teachers 
come  from  time  to  time  either  to  frame  special  rules  for  the 
special  circumstances  under  which  a  race  is  being  trained  or 
to  modify  the  old  rules  in  the  light  of  progress  made.  Chris- 
tianity was  given  to  the  western  world  as  a  statement  of  the 
special  set  of  ideals  towards  which  it  was  to  work  its  way. 

47 


Hinduism  strikes  an  entirely  different  note,  but  one  none  the 
less  needed  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  universal  harmony.  Un- 
fortunately, people  tend  to  imagine  not  only  that  their  own 
rules  express  the  whole  of  the  truth  for  all  the  world,  but  that 
they  are  appointed  by  God  to  declare  the  valuelessness  of  all 
other  rules  and  to  induce  the  followers  of  these  to  come  into 
the  true  and  only  fold.  Obviously  this  is  a  case  of  pride,  self- 
righteousness,  and  in  the  days  of  the  Inquisition  violent  means 
were  employed  to  force  those  who  gripped  another  form  of 
truth  either  to  recant  or  to  be  destroyed.  In  modern  times 
we  have  the  missionary  movements  to  the  so-called  " heathen' ' 
— admirable  in  their  purely  medical  and  educational  work, 
and  when  directed  towards  aboriginal  tribes,  but  marred  by 
an  intolerable  egoism  and  self-complacency  which  imagines 
that  God  has  made  them  His  elect.  If  missionaries  would  con- 
tinue to  do  all  they  are  now  doing  along  secular  lines  and 
were  to  combine  this  with  an  enquiring  reverence  for  the  re- 
ligion in  the  midst  of  which  their  work  has  placed  them,  they 
would  be  among  those  who  know  instead  of  among  the  ignor- 
ant who  say :  ' '  What  I  believe  is  true,  what  I  do  not  believe 
is  false.' ' 

All  Keligions  Have  One  Source 

We  learn  from  the  Master's  statement  that  the  form  of 
religion  into  which  a  man  is  born  does  not  matter.  In  other 
words,  we  are  born  into  a  special  religion  either  because  its 
peculiar  influences  are  needed  for  the  development  of  our  na- 
tures or  to  learn  to  break  through  its  binding  form  without 
losing  reverence  for  the  ensouling  truth.  Most  Christians, 
for  example,  are  best  advised  to  follow  the  general  principles 
of  their  own  religion,  without,  however,  paying  more  attention 
to  form  than  is  helpful.  Christian  rites  and  ceremonies  will 
probably  be  valuable  to  them,  but  they  should  gradually, 
through  the  practice  of  the  form,  find  their  way  to  the  spirit 
within,  so  that  ultimately  the  form  drops  away  because  its 
work  is  done.     Look  around  you,  at  people,  at  animals,  at 

48 


trees,  at  flowers,  at  the  sea  in  its  various  moods,  at  the  tower- 
ing rocks.  The  divine  spirit  is  indeed  pervading  all,  but  it  is 
the  form  which  leads  you  to  seek  the  occupier  within,  and 
small  wonder  that  for  the  time  the  form  suffices.  You  know 
that  God  is  beneath  the  form,  but  God  and  the  form  are  so 
much  one  to  you  that  you  cling  to  the  form  you  can  touch  and 
feel,  and  you  take  God  for  granted.  So  it  is  with  religious 
ceremonies — they  appeal  to  the  senses,  and  their  inner  sig- 
nificance is  so  much  taken  for  granted  that  in  course  of  time 
it  becomes  ignored  altogether,  perhaps  even  lost  to  outer  view. 
Sooner  or  later,  however,  God  can  no  longer  be  taken  for 
granted,  and  it  is  time  to  begin  learning  the  lesson  that  forms 
are  but  temporary  sparks  thrown  out  by  God  to  draw  at- 
tention to  His  nature.  Play  with  the  sparks  and  learn  to  love 
them — that  is  inevitable,  for  even  the  sparks  are  part  of  God. 
But  sooner  or  later  the  sparks  will  flicker  and  vanish  and  new 
sparks  will  be  showered  forth,  new  forms  will  take  the  place 
of  old;  and  in  the  hopelessness  of  clinging  to  forms  which 
must  inevitably  die  is  born  the  desire  to  find  something  which 
endures  behind  all  passing  manifestations.  Then  do  we  begin 
to  realise  that  the  Hindu,  the  Buddhist,  the  Christian,  the 
Muhammadan,  are  all  living  within  their  respective  portions 
of  the  truth.  They  are  like  people  living  in  different  rooms 
within  the  same  house.  Some  are  proud  of  their  own  rooms, 
and  do  not  know  that  there  are  other  rooms  as  beautiful  as 
theirs.  Seeing  people  in  other  rooms,  they  say  to  them:  "Come 
into  my  room.  It  is  so  much  more  beautiful  than  yours. 
Your  room  is  bare  and  ill-furnished.  See  how  much  more 
habitable  my  room  is!"  And  the  answer  is:  "My  room  suits 
me.  I  am  used  to  it.  It  is  furnished  in  the  manner  most  help- 
ful to  the  work  I  have  to  do.  It  contains  conveniences  which 
yours  lacks,  just  as  yours  contains  conveniences  for  you  which 
mine  lacks.' '  We  all  live  in  the  same  house.  Until  we  can 
move  from  room  to  room  uncritically  and  in  appreciation  of 
the  arrangements  of  the  rooms  of  others,  each  had  better  keep 
to  his  own  room.  But  the  time  comes  when  it  is  no  longer  pleas- 
ant to  live  in  one  room  only,  and  the  true  inhabitant  of  the 

49 


house  is  he  who  makes  himself  equally  at  home  and  apprecia- 
tive in  all  the  rooms  to  the  delight  of  their  respective  occu- 
pants, though  no  doubt  preferring  the  room  which  is  specially 
his  own. 

Races  are  Classes  in  God's  School 

Similarly,  it  does  not  matter  to  what  race  a  man  or  wo- 
man belongs — "  whether  he  is  an  Indian  or  an  Englishman,  a 
Chinaman  or  a  Russian."  Each  race  has  its  work  to  do,  as 
has  each  religion,  and  those  who  know  are  not  only  without 
race-prejudice,  able  to  appreciate  the  qualities  in  all  races, 
but  are  thankful  to  help  in  any  land  to  which  the  Master's 
service  calls  them.  Respecting  the  customs  and  beliefs  of 
those  among  whom  their  work  for  the  time  being  finds  them, 
they  seek  to  discover  the  purpose  for  which  the  race  exists 
and  strive  to  forward  this  to  the  utmost  of  their  power.  Each 
race  has  its  own  note  in  the  universal  harmony,  as  has  each  re- 
ligion, and  if  we  dislike  a  religion  or  a  race  it  is  probable  that 
we  shall  have  one  day  to  be  born  within  their  ranks  to  over- 
come our  ignorance  as  to  the  part  they  play  in  the  growth  of 
us  all. 

We  then  come  to  a  variety  of  general  principles  on  which 
certain  kinds  of  discrimination  are  based — discrimination 
"between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  the  important  and  the 
unimportant,  the  useful  and  the  useless,  the  true  and  the 
false,  the  selfish  and  the  unselfish." 

The  Masters  and  Ourselves 

"Between  right  and  wrong,"  says  the  Master,  "it  should 
not  be  difficult  to  choose,  for  those  who  wish  to  follow  the 
Master  have  already  decided  to  take  the  right  at  all  costs." 
Here  is  a  great  truth  put  in  a  somewhat  peculiar  way.  Prob- 
ably you  wonder  whether  the  Master  was  speaking  of  Him- 
self. Personally  I  imagine  He  was  speaking  of  Those  greater 
even  than  Himself,  Alcyone  translating  the  Master's  thought 

50 


about  His  own  superiors  into  terms  expressing  his  own  re- 
lationship to  the  Master.  The  point  is  unimportant;  but  we 
do  learn  the  very  significant  fact  that  the  individual  who  s^eks 
a  Master  of  the  Wisdom  for  his  guide  has  made  the  great  de- 
cision which  separates  him  from  those  who  do  not  know.  Truth 
is,  indeed,  our  ultimate  goal ;  but  sooner  or  later  we  must  in- 
evitably unite  with  Those  who  are  nearer  to  the  goal  than  our- 
selves. You  will  find  people  at  various  intermediate  stages, 
and  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  what  some  of  these  stages  are. 
Some  people,  for  example,  are  devoted  to  abstract  ideals,  and 
do  not  for  the  time  feel  the  need  of  a  Master's  guidance. 
Others,  engaged  in  work  involving  the  utmost  self-sacrifice, 
do  not  in  their  lower  bodies  know  of  the  existence  of  Masters 
and  even  perhaps  deny  Their  existence.  Some,  again,  desire 
to  follow  a  Master  but  do  not  know  Whom  to  follow.  Re- 
member that  whatever  the  attitude  of  any  one  may  be  to  the 
Masters,  the  Masters  Themselves  know  each  and  every  one 
of  us  and  guide  us  to  our  destiny  along  the  road  we  have 
chosen  to  tread.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  In  what  family, 
worthy  of  the  name,  does  not  the  father,  the  mother,  the  elder 
brother  or  sister,  love,  protect  and  guide  the  younger  mem- 
bers? The  purer  the  love,  the  more  perfect  the  guidance; 
and  in  the  world-family  the  Perfect  Men — our  Elder  Breth- 
ren— give  perfect  guidance.  People  may  wish  to  reject  the 
help  or  rebel  against  an  apparent  interference ;  but  they  can 
no  more  avoid  the  Masters'  care  than  they  can  escape  from 
the  unity  which  binds  us  all  in  one ;  while  the  Masters '  know 
full  well  that  no  man  can  grow  into  perfection  save  through 
perfect  freedom.  But  the  very  brotherhood  of  all  mankind 
makes  Them  one  with  us,  and  the  guidance  They  give  us  is 
the  outward  symbol  of  the  unity  we  share.  If  unity  is  a  re- 
striction on  freedom,  then  indeed  we  are  not  free ;  but  unity 
gives  power  to  freedom  and  is  the  living  witness  of  our  divin- 
ity. Each  individual  is  for  the  time  satisfied  with  his  ideals, 
and  people  will  often  tell  you  that  the  idea  of  discipleship  to 
a  Master  does  not  help  them,  or  that  their  temperament  pre- 
cludes any  idea  of  dependence  or  reliance  on  aught  save  the 

51 


God  within.  If  they  are  content,  it  is  not  your  task  to  attempt 
to  disturb  them.  They  are  learning  the  lessons  their  stage 
teaches,  and  when  they  have  really  found  the  God  within  they 
will  awaken  to  the  fact  that  they  cannot  dissociate  themselves 
from  other  parts  of  the  one  great  whole.  Then  they  will 
know  the  Masters  as  Elder  Brethren  and  will  realise  that  just 
as  they  themselves  owe  guidance  to  those  more  ignorant  so 
must  the  Masters  give  to  them  the  help  that  greater  wisdom 
ever  owes  to  less.  The  God  within  is  conscious  of  the  guidance, 
and  it  matters  not  for  the  time  that  the  lower  self  remains 
unconscious  or  denies.  The  babe  sleeps  safely  in  its  mother's 
arms;  the  youth,  growing  into  self -consciousness,  seeks  to 
gauge  his  power  by  standing  alone;  the  man  knowing  his 
power  and  limitations,  begins  to  appreciate  his  mother's 
brooding  tenderness  and  reverences  her  now  as  perhaps  he 
has  never  done  before.  Looking  back  over  his  life  he  sees  the 
part  she  played  in  guiding  him  through  the  troubles  of  the 
world,  and  he  notices  how  in  times  of  apparently  greatest 
freedom  her  watchfulness  and  care  were  none  the  less  active, 
though  unrecognised  and  unnoticed.  As  with  the  mother,  im- 
perfectly, so  with  the  Master  perfectly,  and  we  have  all  to 
pass  through  the  stages  from  babyhood  to  manhood.  Like 
little  children  we  must  learn  to  think  we  walk  alone,  but  the 
happiest  walks  are  in  reality  those  in  which  we  may  gaze  at 
loved  Elders  in  front,  with  our  friends  at  our  side,  and  those 
younger  in  knowledge  than  ourselves  treading  in  places  made 
smooth  by  our  footsteps. 

"The  Body  and  the  Man  are  Two" 

"We  now  come  to  the  Master's  lucid  summing  up  of  the 
conflict  through  which  we  all  must  go.  "The  body  and  the 
man  are  two,  and  the  man's  will  is  not  always  what  the  body 
wishes. ' '  Remember  that ' '  those  who  wish  to  follow  the  Master 
have  already  decided  to  take  the  right  at  all  costs."  At  all 
costs.  But  this  decision  is  taken  by  the  highest  in  us,  and 
while  the  lower  bodies  are  influenced  by  the  decision,  they  do 

52 


not  always  want  to  carry  it  out  within  their  respective  spheres. 
"At  all  costs"  means,  therefore,  at  whatever  cost  to  the  bodies 
in  which  the  highest  in  us  is  gaining  control  over  matter  of 
various  densities.  That  which  is  highest  in  us  cannot  help 
taking  the  decision,  the  decision  belongs  to  its  very  essence, 
but  ages  have  had  to  pass  before  the  lower  bodies  can  be 
taught  to  respond  to  their  master's  wishes,  just  as  it  takes  a 
long  time  to  train  an  animal  perfectly.  So  the  efficacy  of 
the  decision  only  begins  when,  after  ages  of  slow  evolution,  the 
God-to-be  within  us  at  last  begins  to  receive  a  conscious  re- 
sponse from  its  lower  nature.  The  response  must  for  a  long 
time,  however,  be  of  a  very  intermittent  nature,  for  the  two 
poles  have  not  as  yet  been  adjusted  to  produce  a  constant 
spark.  So  the  Master  explains  to  us  various  ways  in  which 
these  lower  bodies  refrain  from  responding  as  they  should. 
He  warns  us :  ' i  When  your  body  wishes  something,  stop  and 
think  whether  you  really  wish  it.  For  you  are  God,  and  you 
will  only  what  God  wills;  but  you  must  dig  deep  down  into 
yourself  to  find  the  God  within  you,  and  listen  to  His  voice, 
which  is  your  voice.' ■  In  explanation  of  this  He  reminds  us 
that  we  must  not  mistake  our  bodies  for  our  real  selves — 
"neither  the  physical  body,  nor  the  astral,  nor  the  mental." 
"Each  one  of  them  will  pretend  to  be  the  Self,  in  order  to 
gain  what  it  wants.  But  you  must  know  them  all,  and  know 
yourself  as  their  master." 

The  difficulty  consists  in  knowing  at  the  moment.  After 
some  time  we  can  look  back  upon  the  various  ways  in  which 
our  lower  bodies  have  pretended  to  be  the  Self,  and  we  say: 
"How  stupid  I  was,"  or  "what  a  fuss  I  made  over  nothing," 
or  "I  thought  there  was  nothing  else  but  that  at  the  time." 
But  why  should  these  bodies  pretend  to  be  the  Self  ?  Because 
it  is  to  their  interest  to  make  evolution  as  slow  as  possible. 
In  them  the  life  and  the  form  seem  bound  up  together  so  that 
if  the  form  perishes  the  life  appears  to  have  no  further  value 
or  even  existence.  Form  is  their  world — the  world  of  the  phy- 
sical, astral,  and  mental  bodies — and  any  process  which  tends 
to  do  away  with  form  is  an  attack  upon  their  world's  existence. 

53 


Think  how  many  people  there  are  who  still  believe  that  with 
death  comes  annihilation.  Does  the  God  within  think  this  ?  The 
God  within  knows  Himself  eternal,  and  yet  the  vehicles  down 
here  "pretend"  that  the  destruction  of  the  vehicle  means  the 
destruction  of  the  life.  It  is  not  true,  but  in  his  lower  bodies 
the  man  knows  no  better.  The  bodies  are  anxious,  therefore, 
to  preserve  themselves  for  as  long  a  period  as  possible  and 
imagine  that  their  preservation  depends  upon  self-seeking 
rather  than  upon  self-sacrifice.  Much  of  the  competition  in 
modern  life,  much  of  the  oppression  of  the  weak  by  the  strong, 
of  the  poor  by  the  rich,  of  animals  by  mankind,  has  its  origin 
in  the  very  successful  pretence  on  the  part  of  our  lower  bodies 
to  be  the  Self.  Indeed  we  are  all  living  more  or  less  under  the 
shadow  of  this  pretence,  for  much  that  is  luxurious  in  20th 
century  civilization  is  produced  by  the  selfishness  of  our  lower 
selves.  The  vivisector  maintains,  for  example,  that  we  are 
justified  in  experimenting  on  animals  so  as  to  increase  our 
own  power  to  resist  disease  and  thus  to  prolong  the  life  of  the 
lower  bodies.  I  am  not  one  to  condemn  the  vivisector — he 
expresses  a  pretence  of  the  lower  self ;  and  we  all  are  victims 
of  its  cunning  in  one  way  or  another.  Again,  we  consider 
ourselves  entitled  to  kill  animals  for  food;  and  most  of  us 
would  not  hesitate  to  eat  meat,  even  supposing  that  we  have 
hitherto  been  vegetarians,  if  we  were  assured  by  our  doctor 
that  we  had  to  choose  between  eating  meat  and  dying.  But 
let  me  for  a  moment  disclose  to  you  the  attitude  of  one  who 
no  longer  yields  to  the  snare.  Mrs.  Besant  has  often  told  me 
that  she  would  rather  die  than  eat  meat,  partly  as  a  matter 
of  principle  and  partly  because  the  introduction  of  coarse 
meat  particles  would  hinder  some  of  her  special  work.  Such 
a  declaration  is  no  heroic  outburst,  it  is  simply  the  statement 
that  while  the  body  must  be  properly  looked  after  it  cannot 
expect  to  be  honoured  at  every  turn.  If  it  says:  "Since  you 
don't  give  me  meat  I  shall  die,"  the  answer  must  be  "my 
friend,  you  are  not  my  only  hope.  I  can  get  another  body, 
and  though  it  is  my  duty  to  keep  you  alive  as  long  as  possi- 
ble, I  cannot  preserve  you  at  the  expense  of  work  I  have  de- 

54 


termined  to  do.  Therefore  you  must  go."  "Whether  any  par- 
ticular individual  has  the  duty  of  disciplining  his  bodies  as 
Mrs.  Besant  does  hers,  whether  under  all  circumstances  we 
must  never  give  way  to  them,  is  not  for  me  to  say.  Each  per- 
son must  judge  his  own  duty  for  himself.  Let  the  body  have 
its  pleasures  and  amusements  as  well  as  its  discipline  and  its 
exercises,  but  see  that  it  does  not  try  to  draw  its  master  away 
from  that  which  is  the  link  between  him  and  God — his  prin- 
ciples of  life.  You  must  know  your  bodies  "and  know  your- 
self as  their  master." 

The  Objects  op  the  Senses 

I  think  I  ought  to  lay  stress  on  the  fact  that  we  are  not 
told  to  shun  the  objects  of  the  senses — all  that  makes  our 
physical,  our  emotional,  our  mental,  worlds.  To  possess  beau- 
tiful objects  and  to  desire  them,  to  submit  to  the  influence  of 
an  uplifting  emotion  and  to  seek  it,  to  take  pleasure  in  the 
things  of  the  intellect  and  to  strive  for  knowledge — all  this 
is  not  only  useful  but  essential  to  our  growth.  We  have  in 
these  three  lower  worlds  to  become  familiar  with  the  objects 
of  the  senses,  but  we  must  not  identify  ourselves  with  them 
if  we  wish  to  qualify  for  admission  to  a  Master's  school.  Peo- 
ple at  a  certain  stage  of  evolution  do  identify  themselves  with 
the  world  in  which  they  live,  are  its  slaves,  and  were  they  not 
they  could  not  be  ready  for  the  further  stage  of  being  its 
masters.  Unless  they  have  experienced  its  clutch  they  will 
be  unable  to  sympathise  usefully  with  those  who  still  remain 
victims  of  their  bodies'  pretence.  But  you  and  I  must  hope 
we  have  passed  the  earlier  stage,  though  the  young  will  doubt- 
less recapitulate  it  as  they  once  again  grow  accustomed  in 
their  new  bodies  to  a  world  full  of  objects  of  the  senses  new 
since  last  they  visited  it.  We  must  know  what  the  objects  of 
the  senses  are,  with  what  thoughts  and  feelings  and  objects 
the  mental,  astral  and  physical  worlds  are  respectively  filled. 
And  this  is  the  true  basis  of  the  "pretense"  of  the  various 
bodies  concerned.    The  Self  is  indeed  in  each  of  these  bodies, 

55 


and  so  far  each  body  may  rightly  claim  that  it  is  animated 
by  a  portion  of  the  Self.  To  this  extent  in  each  of  these  bodies 
we  must  seek  the  objects  of  the  senses,  for  in  such  seeking 
lies  our  growth.  Unfortunately  the  bodies  take  themselves 
too  seriously,  imagine  they  are  indispensable,  ignore  the  law 
of  reincarnation  which  dismisses  that  pretence  at  once,  and 
then  claim  that  they  are  the  Self.  "I  am  angry",  "I  am 
jealous",  "I  believe  this;  I  disbelieve  that",  UI  am  fond  of 
such  and  such  amusements",  "I  enjoy  food,  or  special  kinds 
of  food" — These  are  a  few  of  the  many  statements  our  bodies 
are  making  day  after  day.  The  real  Self  is  never  angry ;  the 
real  Self  is  never  jealous ;  the  real  Self  knows ;  the  real  Self 
tolerates  amusements  but  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  fond  of 
them;  the  real  Self  looks  upon  food  as  a  means  to  preserve 
the  physical  body  so  long  as  the  body  is  needed,  and  cares  for 
the  purity  of  the  food  and  not  for  its  power  of  exciting  the 
astral  vehicle.  Use  these  conventional  phrases  if  you  will, 
but  see  to  it  that  you  are  able  to  distinguish  all  the  time  be- 
tween your  Self  and  its  bodies.  At  least  know  in  theory  that 
the  real  "you"  is  not  at  the  mercy  of  the  objects  of  the 
senses,  and  you  will  have  begun  to  be  their  master  in  reality. 
At  least  know  in  theory  that  the  real  "you"  is  never  angry 
and  you  have  begun  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  calm  that  can 
never  be  ruffled. 

How  to  begin?  "When  your  body  wishes  something, 
stop  and  think  whether  you  really  wish  it".  A  very  hard 
task  to  be  continually  stopping  and  thinking  all  day  long. 
But  Mrs.  Besant  told  her  hearers  on  the  day  when  she  first  be- 
gan a  series  of  talks  on  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master — November 
27th,  1910 — that  however  irksome  the  task  it  had  to  be  faced. 
It  is  part  of  the  preparation,  she  said,  and  only  those  achieve 
who  do  not  get  tired  of  trying.  It  means  no  hasty  speech,  no 
hasty  action,  no  hasty  thinking  even:  all  must  be  under  con- 
trol. Do  not  feel  appalled  at  the  prospect,  young  friends. 
To  gain  the  immense  privilege  of  membership  of  a  Master's 
school  we  must  expect  to  work  hard,  and  if  you  will  but  try 
you  are  bound  to  succeed.    By  stopping  even  only  one  hasty 

56 


word,  or  thought  or  action  during  the  week  you  are  far  nearer 
to  your  Master  than  those  who  are  content  to  say :  * '  I  wish  I 
could  do  all  this,  but  I  can't,  so  it  is  useless  to  try."  The 
Master  acknowledges  effort;  He  knows  us  too  well  to  expect 
success. 

The  Word  " Pretend' ' 

The  word  ' '  pretend ' '  as  used  by  the  Master  in  the  phrase 
"each  one  of  them  [the  physical,  astral  and  mental  bodies] 
will  pretend  to  be  the  Self"  seems  to  suggest  a  deception  on 
the  part  of  the  lower  bodies,  something  of  an  underhand  na- 
ture, against  which  we  ought  to  be  on  our  guard.  I  think  the 
word  was  deliberately  used  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  the 
pupil  to  whom  the  teachings  were  being  given  was  expected 
to  live  in  his  higher  self  rather  than  to  allow  himself  to  be  at 
the  mercy  of  his  lower  bodies.  The  desires  of  the  physical, 
astral  and  mental  bodies  had  to  be  labelled  as  unreal  with  re- 
spect to  one  who  was  learning  to  live  from  above  and  to  whom 
the  lower  bodies  were  but  as  instruments  in  the  service  of  an 
awakened  higher  consciousness.  The  Alcyone  of  the  inner 
worlds  would  fully  know  how  to  distinguish  between  their 
realities  and  the  fleeting  circumstances  of  the  worlds  without. 
But  in  each  outgoing  into  denser  matter — through  the  mental 
to  the  physical — the  higher  self  must  needs  undergo  a  limita- 
tion, so  that  its  powers  would  be  correspondingly  weakened. 
In  addition,  while  the  soul  of  Alcyone  was  old,  its  new  bodies 
were  young  and  untrained.  These  two  circumstances,  I  think, 
caused  the  choice  of  the  word  " pretend,"  so  that  in  the  lower 
worlds  Alcyone  might  remember  that  however  real  their  ob- 
jects might  temporarily  seem,  however  much  his  bodies,  still 
young,  might  long  for  them,  yet  their  reality  was  but  a  pre- 
tence compared  with  the  realities  of  the  Masters'  world. 

From  a  certain  standpoint,  there  can  be  no  pretence  in 
that  which  God  has  created.  Nothing  is  without  its  value  in 
evolution,  and  'even  the  most  fleeting  of  the  objects  of  the 
senses  has  its  part  to  play  in  helping  us  to  grow.  At  every 
stage  of  our  growth  objects  of  the  senses  surround  us  and, 
according  to  our  stage  we  ignore  some,  reject  others,  long  for 

57 


these,  are  repelled  by  those.  We  grow  by  experiencing  obj- 
ects of  the  senses,  thus  learning  to  reach  the  realities  of  which 
they  are  the  shadows  in  this  world  of  ours.  Until  we  know 
the  realities,  as  I  have  already  said,  their  shadows  must  suffice. 
And  the  shadow's  pretence  to  be  the  reality  is  not  an  unrea- 
sonable one,  for  after  all  it  is  a,  shadow  of  a  reality  and  de- 
pends for  its  existence  on  the  reality  it  represents.  But  you 
and  I  ought,  at  least  so  far  as  regards  most  objects  of  the 
senses  in  the  lower  worlds,  to  have  reached  the  realities  of 
which  they  are  the  expressions,  and  still  to  accept  the  shadow 
as  the  reality  would  be  a  pretence,  an  imagination,  since  the 
reality  is  known  apart.  We — in  our  bodies — would  be  pre- 
tending, and  to  make  our  position  clear  the  Master  dissociates 
us  from  our  bodies  and  explains  that  only  in  a  lower  body 
could  we  imagine  the  part  to  be  the  whole. 


58 


CHAPTER    VI 
TRAINING  THE  BODY 

The  next  few  pages  of  "At  the  Feet  of  the  Master''  eon- 
tain  commentaries  on  the  central  fact  that  "the  astral  body 
is  your  animal — the  horse  upon  which  you  ride."  It  may 
be  the  physical  body,  or  the  astral  body,  or  the  body  in  which 
lives  the  mind — all  are  your  animals,  and  a  very  hard  team  to 
drive  they  are  too !  The  Master  makes  this  perfectly  clear  in 
the  common  every  day  instances  in  which  the  animals  refuse 
to  be  ridden  and  throw  their  rider.  "When  there  is  work 
that  must  be  done,  the  physical  body  wants  to  rest,  to  go  out 
walking,  to  eat  and  drink;  and  the  man  who  does  not  know 
says  to  himself:  lI  want  to  do  these  things  and  I  must  do 
them'.  But  the  man  who  knows  says:  'This  that  wants  is  not 
I,  and  it  must  wait  awhile.'  "  "You  shall  not  hinder  me  in 
doing  good  work"  says  the  rider  to  the  particular  steed  he  is 
specially  using  at  the  time  or  to  the  particular  steed  which 
for  the  moment  is  inclined  to  be  restive.  Now  you  will  find 
that  many  excellent  people  think  it  their  duty  to  drive  their 
bodies  all  they  possibly  can.  Monks  and  nuns  who  inflict  self- 
tortue  upon  themselves,  so-called  ascetics  in  India  who  hope 
to  obtain  liberation  by  making  the  body  do  that  for  which  it 
is  not  intended — these  are  examples  of  such  people.  Many 
people  in  our  own  country  think  it  wrong  to  do  various  really 
harmless  actions  so  that  they  may  have  the  morbid,  unnatural, 
satisfaction  of  mortifying  or  starving  the  lower  bodies  that 
the  higher  may  shine  through  more  clearly  because  of  their 
emaciation  and  weakness.  The  higher  self  asks  for  beauty 
and  not  for  ugliness,  asks  for  joyousness  and  not  for  gloom, 
asks  for  a  well-nourished,  contented  instrument  and  not  for 
a  half-starved  body  beaten  into  submission  instead  of  evolved 
into  co-operation. 

As  the  Master  says:  "you  must  treat  it  well,  and  take 

■ 


good  care  of  it;  you  must  not  overwork  it,  you  must  feed  it 
properly  on  pure  food  and  drink  only,  and  keep  it  strictly 
clean  always,  even  from  the  minutest  speck  of  dirt.  For  with- 
out a  perfectly  clean  and  healthy  body  you  cannot  do  the 
arduous  work  of  preparation,  you  cannot  bear  its  ceaseless 
strain."  We  who  are  learning  to  fit  ourselves  for  admission 
to  a  Master's  school  must  bear  these  points  in  mind  all  the 
time.  Notice  that  the  Master  nowhere  condemns  healthy  and 
harmless  amusements,  provided,  of  course,  that  they  neither 
injure  you  nor  cause  injury  to  those  connected  with  their 
production.  But  your  lower  bodies  must  not  be  allowed  to 
indulge  in  such  pleasures  at  the  expense  of  doing  good  work. 
Periodical  amusements,  even  those  which  have  no  specially 
beneficent  effect  one  way  or  the  other — are  amusements  pure 
and  simple — help,  I  think  to  keep  our  lower  bodies  in  fit  con- 
dition; but  we  must  be  careful  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  goal 
before  us,  lest  by  indulging  our  bodies  too  freely  we  wake 
some  day  to  find  that  we  have  become  their  slaves  instead  of 
being  their  masters.  "But  it  must  always  be  you  who  con- 
trol that  body,  not  it  that  controls  you." 

Amusements 

"You  must  not  overwork  it",  says  the  Master.  For  ac- 
tive temperaments  this  seems  a  somewhat  hard  injunction. 
There  come  times  of  special  stress,  we  think,  when  the  physi- 
cal body  ought  not  to  be  spared  in  any  way.  Perhaps  in  rare 
instances  this  may  be  true,  especially  if  you  have  to  choose 
between  sparing  your  body  and  standing  firm  to  your  prin- 
ciples. But  most  of  us  are  not  confronted  by  such  a  situation, 
and  it  may  be  safely  taken  for  granted  that  whenever  we  over- 
work— whatever  the  cause — we  are  doing  injury  to  ourselves 
and  to  others  as  well.  Over-exercise,  over-study,  over-eating, 
over-sleeping,  denying  the  body  that  which  it  needs  for  per- 
fect health — all  these  are  forbidden  because  they  hinder  your 
utility  in  the  Master's  service.  Especially  while  you  are 
young  the  body,  so  glad  to  be  in  existence,  tends  to  conceal 
from  you  the  mischief  you  may  be  doing.    You  feel  quite  well 

60 


even  though  your  elders  tell  you  that  the  body  is  being  over- 
strained, and  it  is  not  until  later  that  the  body  is  forced  into 
the  confession  that  having  at  the  time  insufficient  force  to 
meet  your  demands  it  drew  upon  the  future,  and  now  there  is 
barely  enough  force  left  to  keep  it  alive.  Nothing  is  more 
important  than  to  know  our  limitations,  for,  knowing  them, 
we  not  only  realise  where  the  points  of  strain  are,  but  we 
learn  how  to  replace  with  strength  weaknesses  which  in  later 
years  may  give  us  much  trouble.  A  part  from  the  obvious 
absurdity  of  competitive  examinations  as  indications  of  real 
worth,  see  how  much  wear  and  tear  they  cause  to  the  body, 
especially  to  the  brain,  and  remember  that  though  the  few 
may  be  able  to  stand  the  drain  on  their  physical  resources, 
most  of  those  who  have  taken  part  in  competitions  have  defi- 

Initely  lowered  their  vitality,  if  they  have  not  impaired  it  al- 
together. So  it  is  with  many  features  of  modern  life,  and  you 
must  make  up  your  minds  whether  you  are  going  to  fit  your- 
selves for  the  world's  appreciation  or  for  the  Master's. 
Note  that  I  write  "appreciation"  and  not  " service."  The 
world  is  best  served  by  those  who  make  themselves  fit  instru- 
ments for  the  Master's  work,  and  though  the  world  may  ig- 
nore them,  it  is  better  for  their  unrecognised  efforts  than  for 
the  work  of  most  of  those  who  stand  high  in  worldly  favor. 
I  admit  freely  that  young  people  are  encouraged  by  the  ap- 
proval of  those  whose  opinions  weigh  with  them,  and  it  is 
natural  that  they  should  find  in  the  world  an  infinite  number 
of  fleeting  satisfactions.  By  all  means  enjoy  life,  provided 
that  no  one  suffers  through  your  enjoyment  and  that  you  do 
not  allow  the  enjoyments  of  the  lower  bodies  to  interfere  with 
the  real  enjoyments,  if  I  may  use  the  word  in  this  connection, 
of  the  higher  self.  The  lower  needs  its  enjoyments  as  well  as 
the  higher,  but  most  of  us  live  so  much  in  the  lower  worlds 
that  there  is  a  danger  of  our  being — in  our  lower  selves — 
cruel  to  the  higher.  You  are  often  impatient  with  people 
who  say  you  ought  not  to  have  this,  that  or  the  other  pleasure 
on  which  you  have  counted,  but  do  not  forget  that  you  your- 
selves often  deny  your  higher  selves  pleasures  which  they  too 


i 


61 


would  be  glad  to  enjoy — pleasures  of  an  infinitely  more  last- 
ing kind  than  those  which,  in  your  lower  selves,  you  have 
been  pursuing  with  so  much  eagerness.  The  greatest  happi- 
ness you  can  give  your  higher  self  is  to  adapt  your  lower 
vehicles  to  the  Master's  needs,  but  the  higher  self  is  not  un- 
reasonable, is  quite  willing  that  the  lower  should  enjoy  itself, 
and  only  suggests  that  the  more  the  lower  and  the  higher 
pleasures  can  be  harmonised  and  made  lasting,  the  happier 
for  both  parties  concerned.  In  the  long  run,  everything  will 
proceed  so  much  more  smoothly  if  both  pull  together  and  in 
the  same  direction. 

Food  for  the  Body 

The  Master  continues:  "You  must  feed  it  properly  on 
pure  food  and  drink  only,  and  keep  it  strictly  clean  always, 
even  from  the  minutest  speck  of  dirt."  The  word  "properly" 
means  at  regular  intervals,  at  such  times  as  may  conduce  to 
the  best  health,  the  right  quantity,  and  the  right  kind — "pure 
food  and  drink  only". 

Now  I  am  not  going  to  furnish  you  with  a  complete  table 
of  all  the  kinds  of  food  you  ought  to  eat,  how  you  ought  to  eat 
them,  and  when  you  ought  to  eat  them.  You  must  find  this  out 
for  yourselves,  since  each  body  reacts  differently  to  different 
kinds  of  foodstuffs.  But  I  must  lay  the  very  greatest  stress 
on  the  necessity  for  vegetarianism,  not  because  I  happen  to  be 
a  vegetarian,  but  because  the  Master  speaks,  towards  the  end 
of  the  book,  on  the  "cruel  superstition  that  man  needs  flesh 
for  food".  Doubtless  we  are  all  under  the  influence  of  certain 
kinds  of  superstition,  but  at  least  we  must  try  to  avoid  cruel 
superstitions,  and  as  meat-eating  is  a  cruel  superstition — the 
Master  says  so — we  must  get  rid  of  it.  I  want  you  to  look  at 
the  matter  from  the  standpoint  of  reason.  We  inflict  suffer- 
ing on  animals  in  order  to  provide  ourselves  with  unnecessary 
food.  This  is  the  bare  statement  of  the  fact  as  the  Master 
sees  it.  Innumerable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  carrying  out 
the  Master's  hint  will,  of  course,  present  themselves.  Your 
body  cannot  stand  vegetarian  food.    Your  parents  would  dis- 

62 


approve  of  your  becoming  a  vegetarian.  "Are  we  to  give  up 
the  use  of  all  leather  articles,  including  boots,  railway  trunks, 
etc?  Are  we  to  inconvenience  our  friends  by  eating  prac- 
tically nothing  when  we  take  meals  with  them  ? 

Don't  you  think  that  your  animals  are  becoming  some- 
what restive  when  you  allow  them  thus  to  argue?  For  all 
these  difficulties  should  be  thought  of  afterwards,  if  at  all, 
and  not  at  first.  So  many  people  are  eager  to  see  the  Masters, 
to  receive  instructions  from  Them,  and  envy  those  who  have 
the  privilege.  But  remember  that  one  of  the  conditions  of  re- 
ceiving direct  guidance  is  to  pay  prompt  attention  to  what 
the  Master  says.  i  l  You  must  do  what  He  says, ' '  observes 
Alcyone  in  the  Foreword,  "attending  to  every  word,  taking 
every  hint.'9  The  Master  tells  us  to  be  vegetarians.  Are  we 
trying  to  become  vegetarians,  or  are  we  suffering  our  lower 
bodies  to  dictate  to  the  higher?  Are  we  deceived  by  the 
' '  pre  tendings ' '  of  the  bodies  which  ought  to  be  subservient  to 
us?  I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that  it  is  easy  to  change  from 
meat-eating  to  vegetarianism  all  at  once,  partly  because  the 
physical  and  astral  bodies  suddenly  lose  a  food  which  has 
been  stimulating  them  and  intensifying  their  lower  aspects, 
and  partly  because  relatives  and  friends,  who  have  not  been 
as  fortunate  as  ourselves,  will  be  unable  to  see  any  method 
in,  to  them,  an  apparent  madness.  But  in  the  Master's  ser- 
vice we  need  to  start  at  once  when  a  hint  is  given  and  do  the 
best  we  can  with  the  difficulties  as  they  come  along.  In  other 
words  we  do  not  think  of  building  bridges  until  we  actually 
come  to  the  rivers  which  have  to  be  crossed.  Cautious  people 
will  exclaim  against  me  here — '  *  But  surely  we  must  see  where 
we  are  going  before  we  start.  Perhaps  the  difficulties  will  be 
insuperable.  Perhaps  our  relatives  and  friends,  for  example, 
will  be  unable  to  tolerate  our  new  departure."  To  which  I 
reply:  "A  hint  from  a  Master  involves  a  practicable  course 
of  action.  He  does  not  suggest  impossibilities,  nor  is  He  un- 
aware— though  you  may  find  it  difficult  to  believe  this — of 
the  individual  circumstances  of  us  all.  If  At  the  Feet  of 
the  Master  has  come  to  us,  we  may  take  it  that  He  knows  it 

63 


has  come.  So  His  words  become  a  message  to  us  through  His 
young  brother  Alcyone.' '  No  doubt  you  will  fail.  Many 
lapses  into  meat-eating  will  occur,  unless  your  nature  is  par- 
ticularly wiry.  But  were  serious  efforts  made  before  the 
failures,  and  will  serious  efforts  be  made  again  after  the  fail- 
ures? This  is  what  the  Master  wants.  Let  us  repeat  here 
emphatically  that  He  looks  for  effort,  not  expecting  success 
until  many  failures  and  many  efforts  have  taken  place.  "Rome 
was  not  built  in  a  day." 

The  moment  you  know  that  the  Master  has  condemned 
meat-eating  as  a  cruel  superstition  and  that  He  wishes  the 
body  to  be  fed  on  pure  food  and  drink,  you  immediately  be- 
gin to  stop  eating  meat  and  any  other  form  of  food  you  think 
included  in  the  condemnation.  Do  not  quibble  as  to  whether 
fish  or  eggs  or  cheese  or  milk  are  to  be  considered  vegetarian 
or  otherwise.  Use  your  judgment,  for  the  Master  as  a  perfect 
Teacher  merely  lays  down  the  principle  and  leaves  you  to 
apply  it  in  every  day  life.  Personally  I  have  very  little 
patience  with  people  so  hypnotised  by  the  letter  that  they  fail 
to  observe  the  spirit.  They  tell  me  that  if  we  are  to  be  con- 
sistent we  must  avoid  this  and  that  and  the  other  article  of 
food  we  use.  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  consistent,  but  I  am  try- 
ing to  be  as  consistent  as  I  can ;  and  if  in  my  effort  to  be  con- 
sistent I  make  the  mistake  of  including  in  my  articles  of  diet 
and  use  something  which  ought  to  be  left  out,  I  do  not  feel 
that  I  have  vitally  disregarded  the  spirit  of  the  principles  un- 
der which  I  have  been  acting,  though  no  doubt  I  have  violated 
the  letter.  Some  day  I  shall  do  all  things  perfectly,  in  the 
meantime  I  am  not  going  to  sit  idle  or  be  unhappy  because  I 
cannot  now  be  what  I  can  only  be  later  on.  If  you  cannot 
be  a  vegetarian  be  as  much  of  a  vegetarian  as  you  can,  and 
ignore  those  who  do  nothing  because  they  cannot  do  every- 
thing. 

Principles  of  Life 

You  are  expected,  however,  to  use  tact  and  discretion — 
neither  obtruding  your  principles  nor  concealing  them.  Be 
restrained  and  quiet  in  your  actions,  and  above  all  avoid  ag- 

64 


gressiveness  and  feelings  of  superiority  because  you  think 
you  possess  a  truth  not  yet  shared  by  others.  Indeed,  you  do 
not  possess  a  truth  until  its  effect  on  your  nature  is  to  pro- 
duce a  greater  understanding  and  sympathy  than  you  had 
without  it.  Every  additional  truth  you  know  should  make 
you  so  much  the  more  tolerant  and  appreciative,  for  you  are 
by  that  truth  the  nearer  to  a  knowledge  of  the  unity  which 
makes  us  one  with  all.  If  knowledge  brings  pride  and  shuts 
you  off  from  your  fellow-creatures  you  are  only  in  possession 
of  its  intellectual  aspect.  You  have  not  yet  reached  its  spirit- 
ual 'essence.  So,  when  you  begin  to  take  the  Master's  hint  as 
regards  vegetarianism,  I  want  you  to  show  that  you  have 
a  new  truth  in  your  possession,  first  by  manifesting  a  little 
more  of  the  spirit  of  good-will  than  you  have  previously  been 
able  to  show,  second  by  holding  fast  to  it  gently  and  unob- 
trusively. I  think  you  ought  not  to  give  way.  No  parent  or 
friend  with  understanding  would  ask  you  to  give  up  a  matter 
of  principle,  if  you  show  by  your  conduct  that  the  principle 
has  an  ennobling  effect  upon  you.  But  you  cannot  expect  them 
to  regard  as  a  principle  something  which  makes  you  more 
fussy  and  troublesome  than  before.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
your  principle  is  not  respected,  then  the  course  of  action  you 
should  take  depends  upon  the  amount  of  strength  you  possess. 
In  India  young  men  often  write  to  Mrs.  Besant  asking  her 
advice  as  to  various  courses  of  action  which  would  involve 
conflict  with  established  custom  and  would  consequently  place 
the  individual  concerned  in  great  difficulty.  As  far  as  I  re- 
member her  general  position  is  that  if  advice  is  asked  it  often 
means  that  the  applicant,  not  being  strong  enough  to  decide 
for  himself  and  take  the  responsibility,  wishes  to  have  behind 
him  someone  who  will  share  whatever  difficulties  come.  Also, 
the  advice  to  be  given  depends  upon  the  power  of  the  indi- 
vidual to  carry  it  out,  and  it  is  useless  to  recommend  heroic 
measures  to  a  well-meaning  but  negative  personality.  People 
who  give  advice  must  to  some  extent  become  involved  in  its 
results,  and  by  far  the  best  plan  is,  knowing  the  ideal,  to  get 
as  near  to  it  as  you  can  on  your  own  account  alone.    By  all 


as  near  t 


65 


means  learn  from  your  elders  the  principles  of  right  action 
— you  have  them  in  "At  the  Feet  of  the  Master' >: — but  work 
them  out  in  your  own  way  according  to  circumstance  and 
capacity,  ever  striving  to  act  as  truly  as  you  can,  combining 
thoroughness  with  deference  to  the  wishes  of  others  in  all 
matters  not  involving  principle. 

Reading  this,  young  people  will  often  object  that  they 
hardly  have  any  definite  principles,  and  hesitate  to  act  on  those 
for  the  moment  swaying  them  lest  they  make  themselves  a  nui- 
sance, not  to  say  ridiculous,  but  upsetting  the  household  with 
a  zeal  which  may  last  but  a  very  short  time.  I  grant  that  this 
is  a  difficulty,  but  it  seems  to  me,  that,  first,  all  reasonable 
parents  would  be  willing  to  submit  to  such  family  disturbances 
as  might  occur  in  the  course  of  efforts  made  by  young  people 
to  find  their  moral  footing;  second,  it  is  better  to  have  a 
temporary  principle  and  to  have  lost  it,  than  never  to  have 
had  a  principle  at  all!  Young  people  must  inevitably  feel 
their  way.  The  higher  self  must  take  some  time  to  settle 
down  in  its  new  surroundings;  and  it  is  most  natural  to  ex- 
pect a  forceful  ego  to  throw  itself  headlong  into  innumerable 
attitudes  of  mind  and  feeling,  rushing  from  one  to  another 
until  sufficient  experiences  are  gained  to  enable  the  choice  to 
be  made  of  outlooks  upon  life  which  will  last  for  some  time. 
We  are  growing  incessantly,  and  even  the  most  cherished 
principles  of  the  wisest  among  us  undergo  much  modification 
as  the  years  pass,  may  even  in  course  of  time  be  totally 
abandoned.  So  it  is  after  all  a  matter  of  growth,  and  youth 
must  not  be  blamed  if  it  grow  jerkily  and  spasmodically.  Be 
as  true  to  the  reigning  principle  as  you  can,  and  though  peo- 
ple may  laugh  at  your  bubbling  enthusiasms,  you  will  never 
in  after-life  regret  them,  for  their  influence  is  all  for  good. 
On  the  other  hand  train  yourselves  by  degrees  to  approach  a 
new  principle  cautiously  and  to  discard  it  reluctantly,  for  it 
must  be  a  matter  of  honour  with  you  to  treat  it  reverently — 
neither  accepting  it  unless  you  feel  sure  that  you  can  profi- 
tably follow  it,  nor  relinquishing  it  without  a  sense  of  grati- 
tude for  the  good  it  has  done  you.    We  may  at  least  say  with  ' 

66 


truth  that  whatever  other  effect  a  principle  has  had  on  you 
its  temporary  place  in  your  heart  will  have  given  you  the 
power  of  understanding,  and  sympathising  with,  those  who  are 
under  an  influence  which  you  yourself  may  long  ago  have 
passed  beyond. 

Be  True  to  your  Own  Self 

Let  me  conclude  this  portion  of  our  subject  by  warning 
you  against  people  who  argue  that  because  a  leader  is  or  is  not 
a  vegetarian,  therefore  we  ought  to  follow  his  or  her  example. 
A  common  line  of  argument  is  that  there  can  be  no  particular 
harm  in  eating  meat  or  smoking  since  the  great  founder  of 
the  Theosophical  Society — Madame  H.  P.  Blavatsky  herself — 
both  ate  meat  and  smoked  cigarettes.  Or,  to  take  the  opposite 
standpoint,  if  Mrs.  Besant  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Leadbeater  are  both 
rigid  vegetarians  and  non-smokers  we  should  do  well  to  follow 
them.  Which  is  it  to  be,  then,  H.  P.  Blavatsky  or  Annie 
Besant?    Clearly  we  cannot  follow  both! 

The  fact  is  that  we  are  not  at  all  concerned  with  the 
special  circumstances  under  which  all  great  people  necessar- 
ily live.  To  be  great,  an  individual  must  possess  a  peculiar 
temperament,  and  to  be  an  occultist  requires  conditions  quite 
outside  the  understanding  of  ordinary  human  beings.  Great- 
ness is  always  out  of  the  ordinary,  and  rules  appropriate  to 
mediocrity  are  often  fetters  to  genius.  Then,  again,  there  are 
varying  types  of  greatness  with  widely  differing  functions; 
and  it  is  illogical  to  argue  that  because  someone  whom  we 
recognise  as  great  acts  in  a  peculiar  way,  therefore,  no  one  is 
great  who  does  not  behave  similarly.  Further,  it  is  quite  con- 
ceivable that  a  pupil 's  work  in  the  world  is  so  necessary  to  his 
Master's  plans  that  He  has  to  submit  to  a  special  piece  of 
karma,  belonging  to  the  pupil,  which  prevents  the  pupil's 
body  from  bearing  the  strain  of  the  service  required  unless 
it  be  coarsened  with  animal  food.  In  fact,  we  may  reasonably 
imagine  numberless  circumstances  in  which  rules  quite  suit- 
able for  us  at  our  level,  and  perhaps  of  general  suitablity  at 
levels,  have  to  be  waived  for  special  reasons.    Emphatically 


67 


this  is  not  our  business.  It  is  a  matter  between  Master  and 
pupil,  and,  in  the  ease  of  Madame  Blavatsky  or  of  Mrs.  Besant 
or  of  Mr.  Leadbeater,  it  is  more  seemly  in  us  to  be  grateful 
for  the  beauty  of  their  teachings  than  to  intrude  upon  the 
conditions  under  which  the  teachings  were  given.  My  reply 
to  people  who  want  to  probe  into  the  private  lives  of  those 
who  teach  us  is  that  if  I  find  their  teaching  inspiring  I  shall 
have  enough  to  do  in  translating  the  inspiration  into  action 
without  wasting  precious  time  in  ascertaining  whether  the 
teacher  lives  perfectly — that  is,  to  my  own  idea  of  perfection — 
the  words  he  utters.  I  might  add  that  we  smaller  peo- 
ple commit  a  great  mistake  if  we  venture  to  judge 
those  greater  than  ourselves  by  the  standards  which,  per- 
haps, they  have  long  out-grown.  One  of  the  greatest  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  the  average  man  or  woman  recognising  the 
great  World-Teacher  when  He  comes  will  be  that  of  expecting 
Him  to  limit  Himself  to  their  own  conception  of  spiritual 
greatness.  Each  little  narrow  sect  of  Christianity  or  Hindu- 
ism or  Buddhism  or  Islam  will  expect  Him  to  be  its  special 
champion  as  against  all  other  little  sects.  Every  faddist  will 
expect  Him  to  be  an  ardent  disciple  of  the  special  fad  from 
which  he  derives  his  spiritual  livelihood.  He  must  surely 
wear  such  and  such  clothes,  eat  such  and  such  foods,  proclaim 
such  and  such  truths,  live  in  such  and  such  a  way.  He  will 
live  as  the  world  needs  Him  to  live,  not  as  individuals  want 
Him  to  live.  He  comes  to  help  all  mankind  to  live  better  lives, 
not  to  flatter  the  spiritual  pride  of  a  few.  You  and  I  know 
that  He  is  the  Teacher  of  the  world,  and  instead  of  asking 
Him  so  to  live  when  He  comes  that  we  shall  recognise  Him 
without  difficulty,  we  ask  that  we  may  so  live  now  as  to  be- 
come worthy  to  recognise  Him  when  He  is  in  our  midst.  How 
the  Greatest  shall  live  and  what  He  shall  teach  is  for  the 
Greatest  to  decide — else  we  ourselves  were  greater  than  He, 
if  our  own  standard  could  guide  Him.  "What  concerns  us  is 
how  we  shall  live  and  what  we  shall  teach  so  that  He  may 
recognise  us  as  His  servants.  The  world  has  not  made  so 
conspicuous  a  success  of  its  affairs  that  it  can  afford  to  point 

68 


out  to  the  great  World-Teacher  Himself  the  lines  along  which 
reform  and  teaching  are  needed.  He  comes  because  we  need 
His  help,  and  what  the  world  needs  just  now  is  to  develop  suf- 
ficient humility  to  receive  guidance  which  may  be  diamet- 
rically opposed  to  all  existing  conventional  theories  of  life. 
Devotion,  Steadfastness  and  Gentleness — all  these  the  world 
needs,  but  pride  has  in  the  past  been  the  outstanding  barrier 
between  the  Teacher  and  His  generation.  May  it  not  be  so  in 
the  20th  century. 

Cleanliness 

The  Master  proceeds  to  lay  stress  on  the  fact  that  ' '  with- 
out a  perfectly  clean  and  healthy  body  you  cannot  do  the 
arduous  work  of  preparation,  you  cannot  bear  its  ceaseless 
strain. "  No  one  who  is  not  undergoing  the  discipline  of 
preparation  for  a  more  thorough  service  of  the  Masters  can 
have  the  slightest  conception  of  the  strain  it  involves.  Every 
individual  who  deliberately  places  himself  at  a  Master's  dis- 
posal by  that  very  act  begins  to  tune  his  various  bodies  to 
respond  to  the  finer  vibrations  of  the  Master's  worlds,  and  to 
become  infinitely  more  sensitive  to  the  life  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives.  The  disciple  must  not  only  hear  the  Master's 
"faintest  whisper  above  earth's  loudest  song,"  he  must  auto- 
matically sense  the  misery  and  trouble  and  need  of  those  who 
people  the  world  in  which  he  lives,  and  he  must  send  out  to 
them  the  Master's  force  in  terms  of  courage  and  compassion. 
This  means  that  the  body  must  be  pure,  as  free  as  possible  from 
all  coarseness,  must  gradually  substitute  particles  for  its  com- 
position purer  than  those  in  use  among  the  majority  of 
mankind.  The  disciple  is  in  advance  of  his  generation — 
what  he  now  is  the  world  as  a  whole  will  become  after  many 
years.  He  must  embody  in  his  daily  life  a  new  ideal  or  prin- 
ciple of  living:  in  other  words,  he  must  be  a  living  example 
to  those  around  him  of  the  stage  immediately  in  front  of 
them,  the  stage  towards  which  they  now  are  passing. 

The  Ceaseless  Strain 

In  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  we  are  given  a  model  on 

69 


which  to  build  our  various  bodies,  and  we  must  expect  that 
people  who  do  not  realise  the  necessity  for  the  efforts  we  are 
making,  will  laugh  at  us,  will  regard  us  as  tiresome  disturbers 
of  the  soporific  policy  of  drifting  with  the  stream.  I  am 
often  told  that  reformers  are  so  unsociable  that  it  is  almost  a 
nuisance  to  live  with  them;  certainly  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  treat  them  as  ordinary,  conventional  mortals.  I  quite 
agree,  and  I  heartily  sympathise  with  those  who,  content 
with  life  as  it  is,  find  themselves  forced  to  have  to  do  with 
people  who  clash  with  conventional  codes,  the  observance  of 
which  makes  life  so  much  more  negative  and,  therefore,  easy. 
But  if  you  mean  business,  you  are  bound  to  set  yourself 
against  the  majority  of  accepted  modes  of  living,  and  herein 
lies  part  of  the  "ceaseless  strain' '  of  which  the  Master  speaks. 
The  force  of  habit,  the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  a  natural 
tendency  to  comparative  inertia,  all  combine  to  keep  you 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  conventional  life.  But  then  you 
are  not  fulfilling  your  role  as  a  leader,  as  a  forerunner,  as 
an  active  force  in  the  direction  of  bringing  about  a  better 
mode  of  living  than  that  to  which  for  the  present  we  are  con- 
tent to  conform.  You  must  stand  outside  the  pale  of  "  so- 
ciety "  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  You  are  required  to 
guide  your  life  by  principles  which  do  not  yet  appeal  to  the 
majority,  and  you  cannot  expect  people  as  a  whole  to  accept 
you  for  what  you  try  to  be. 

You  are  continually  warring  against  the  lower  self  in 
yourself  as  well  as  against  the  lower  self  in  the  world  outside. 
You  are  continually  setting  up  a  standard  of  living  higher 
than  that  to  which  the  world  for  the  time  being  conforms, 
and  you  have  to  strain  every  nerve  to  live  up  to  it  yourself; 
for  only  as  you  yourself  approach  the  standard  will  you  be 
able  effectively  to  champion  it  among  your  surroundings. 
The  world  is  ever  pressing  against  you  and  your  efforts, 
while  on  your  part  you  have  ever  to  be  striving  to  carry  the 
world  with  you  as  you  tune  your  lower  vehicles  to  co-operate 
more  harmoniously  with  the  realities  to  which  they  are  to  be 
attuned.    You  are  one  with  the  world,  and  such  unity  tends  to 

70 


keep  you  within  the  limits  of  the  world 's  average  progress.  On 
the  other  hand,  you  are  trying  to  make  that  unity  more  living 
by  yourself  becoming  an  example  of  what  the  world  may  hope 
to  be  at  no  distant  date,  thus  stimulating  the  whole  to  in- 
crease its  lustre  by  harmonising  with  the  special  brightness  of 
a  part. 

Indeed  is  the  strain  '  *  ceaseless. ' '  Vigilance  cannot  for 
a  moment  be  relaxed.  There  is  every  temptation  from  the 
lower  to  give  up  the  struggle  and  to  resume  the  far  easier  path 
of  being  led.  Innumerable  actions  which  the  world  approves 
are  denied  to  you.  Many  pleasures  in  which  the  world  in- 
dulges must  be  foresworn  by  you  if  you  would  give  the  world 
what  it  needs  rather  than  what  it  asks.  As  I  write  these 
words,  I  can  hear  some  of  my  readers  exclaim:  "What  is 
the  use  of  it  all,  then?  It  seems  so  lonely  a  struggle,  so  grey 
a  life.  Are  there  no  compensations  V '  When  all  goes  well 
and  there  is  no  trouble,  I  admit  that  the  compensations  seem 
as  if  they  were  non-existent.  When  life  is  easy  for  the  world 
or  for  the  individual,  it  seems  almost  absurd  to  go  out  of  one 's 
way  to  keep  up  a  strain  for  which  there  is  apparently  no  call. 
But  life  is  never  easy  for  long,  nor  is  life  easy  for  most  peo- 
ple; and  the  value  of  the  disciple  who  trains  all  his  bodies 
as  the  athlete  trains  only  the  physical,  is  that  he  is  able  not 
only  to  bear  trouble  which  overwhelms  the  ordinary  indi- 
vidual, but  he  has  accumulated  a  reserve  of  courage  from 
which  those  in  trouble  may  draw  the  strength  to  meet  disas- 
ters which  otherwise  might  render  them  hopeless  and 
crushed. 

Eemember  that  however  much  you  and  your  friends  may 
be  living  a  life  of  ease  and  happiness,  there  are  others  near 
you  who  are  struggling  with  care,  with  want,  with  sickness, 
with  sorrow.  Remember  that  no  individual  happiness  lasts 
long  from  which  the  world  is  excluded.  Who  are  you  that 
you  should  enjoy  comfort,  luxury,  the  satiety  of  your  de- 
sires, while  others,  in  the  moments  of  your  supremest  joy, 
are  weighed  down  by  the  seeming  hopelessness  of  everything. 
Joy  which  is  shared  endures  according  to  the  number  who 

71 


share  it,  and  the  disciple  strives  to  ascertain  the  conditions  of 
true  joy,  so  that  through  leading  others  to  the  knowledge, 
peace  and  happiness  may  begin  to  become  permanent  instead 
of  being  fleeting  because  restricted  to  the  few.  In  reality,  there- 
fore, while  the  strain  of  discipleship  is  great,  there  is  an  ever- 
increasing  tendency  to  peace  and  joy  because  the  would-be 
disciple  is  always  engaged  in  trying  to  emphasise  these  aspect* 
in  those  around  him.  He  is  learning  to  be  a  peace-bringer 
and  a  joy-bringer,  and  he  must  not  complain  if  the  process 
of  education  sometimes  shuts  him  off  from  many  of  the  fleet- 
ing joys  on  which  his  fellows  set  such  store.  A  child  practising 
a  musical  instrument  may  often  long  to  leave  his  lesson  and 
join  the  happy  laughter  of  his  young  companions  in  the 
garden  outside,  but  if  he  can  persevere  in  the  training  of 
his  body  to  reproduce,  however  feebly,  God's  message  through 
music,  he  will  some  day  bring  peace  to  thousands,  and  to  him- 
self a  joy  well  worth  the  little  sacrifice  of  the  temporary  hap- 
piness which  at  the  time  seemed  so  enticing. 

It  would  sometimes  be  so  much  simpler  to  eat  meat,  to 
follow  conventional  habits  of  thought,  to  accept  the  conven- 
tional dicta  of  one's  class,  but  one  would  be  giving  up  the 
permanent  for  the  temporary.  A  bird  in  the  hand  is  by  no 
means  worth  two  in  the  bush,  provided  you  know  that  if  you 
try  hard  enough  you  are  bound  in  course  of  time  to  catch 
those  in  the  bush.  People  sometimes  think  that  they  can 
have  the  bird  in  the  hand  as  well  as  those  in  the  bush,  but 
we  have  been  clearly  told  we  cannot  serve  both  God  and 
Mammon ;  and  so  far  as  I  know  the  experience  of  most  earnest 
students  is  that  the  search  after  the  peace  of  God  is  only 
fruitful  in  proportion  to  the  exclusion  of  all  pleasures  which 
make  for  selfishness  and  self-indulgence  at  an  expense  to 
others.  I  admit  that  to  a  certain  extent  it  is  possible  to  com- 
bine the  two,  and,  as  I  said  before,  there  is  no  reason 
why  one  should  not  enjoy  innocent  and  harmless  amuse- 
ments. But  selfishness  must  ever  be  a  drag  on  one's  effort! 
to  lead  the  disciple's  life,  and  the  less  selfishness  one  shows 
the  quicker  the  progress.  Most  of  us  are  more  or  less  selfish, 
and  the  result  is  that  we  are  only  more  or  less  successful  in 

72 


our  search  for  truth.  It  behoves  us  therefore  so  to  order 
our  lives,  that  we  are  continually  planning  for  the  greater 
welfare  of  our  surroundings,  partly  by  active  help  and  partly 
by  self-training.  All  such  preparation  involves  strain,  for 
we  are  in  effect  all  day  long,  and  all  night  long  too,  striving 
to  transmute  into  finer  forces  all  coarse  vibrations  that  come 
to  us  from  without.  Hate,  dislike,  ill-feeling,  suspicion, 
doubt — all  come  to  us,  and  in  return  we  have  to  train  our- 
selves to  send  out  good-will.  At  first  we  cannot  always  do  it, 
we  cannot  often  do  it;  but  those  who  once  have  been  able 
to  return  good  for  evil  know  the  peace  it  brings  to  all  one's 
bodies  and  the  feeling  of  fire  and  vigour  it  imparts  to  one's 
whole  being.  I  feel  very  strongly  that  just  at  present  any 
efforts  I  may  have  made  in  the  past  are  more  than  repaid  by 
the  strength  of  which  I  am  conscious  in  these  difficult  times, 
and  by  the  eagerness  I  experience  to  be  of  service  to  the 
many  to  whom  the  war  has  brought  misery  and  trouble.  The 
war  has  brought  us  all  nearer  to  each  other.  Above  all  it  has 
brought  the  Masters  nearer  to  us  than  we  have  ever  allowed 
Them  to  come  before,  and  it  has  given  some  of  us  the  happi- 
ness of  knowing  that  Theosophy  is  the  one  great  source  from 
which  it  is  possible  to  draw  courage  and  cheer  for  the  use 
of  the  afflicted.  Such  times  as  these  are  abundant  evidence 
that  the  "ceaseless  strain"  is  well  worth  while  bearing  for 
the  power  it  generates  to  serve  mankind.  "When  life  is  smooth 
the  strain  may  sometimes  seem  an  unnecessary  torture,  but 
when  times  are  hard  it  is  known  to  have  been  the  basis  for  a 
confidence  which  otherwise  could  not  have  existed. 


The  "I"  Outside  the  Body 

The  Master  then  shows  us  how  the  training  is  to  proceed. 
"It  must  always  be  you  who  control  that  body,  not  it  that 
controls  you."  With  regard  to  this  Mrs.  Besant  gave  the 
following  instruction — the  words  are  not  hers:  "What  you 
have  to  do  is  to  judge  for  your  body  as  you  would  for  an 
animal  in  your  charge;  you  must  not  overwork  it  because 

73 


if  you  do  it  has  not  sufficient  physical  energy  left  for  efforts 
in  other  parts  of  your  work.  You  must  give  it  as  much  sleep 
and  food  as  it  requires  to  keep  it  in  the  highest  state  of 
efficiency — not  necessarily  all  that  it  wants.  Many  of  you 
still  give  the  body  too  much  food,  and  this  is  incompatible 
with  the  highest  point  of  efficiency,  at  which  we  should 
always  be  aiming.  Young  bodies,  of  course,  need  consid- 
erable more  food  than  do  elderly  ones;  the  body  must  have 
enough,  but  you  must  not  let  it  have  more  than  that.  Plenty 
of  kind-hearted  people  make  that  very  mistake  with  their 
animals,  with  the  result  that  the  animals  have  imperfect 
health  and  suffer  when  they  have  to  walk.  You  must  judge  for 
your  body.  You  ought  to  have  such  complete  control  over 
your  body  that  you  can  make  it  wait  without  trouble,  say- 
ing: "This  that  wants  it  is  not  I.  I  have  something  more  im- 
portant to  do  at  present,  you  must  wait  till  I  can  attend  to 
you/ 

"This  is  the  point  that  I  should  advise  you  to  think  over 
and  to  work  upon  .  .  .  pull  yourselves  up  constantly  and 
ask:  is  it  I,  or  my  body,  that  is  wanting  this  or  that?  This 
will  gradually  lead  you  to  that  state  of  self-recollectedness 
which  is  so  essential,  and  which  is  a  thing  that  untrained 
people  never  have  .  .  .  whenever  you  wish  something,  ex- 
amine if  it  is  really  you  who  wish  it.  It  is  one  great  lesson 
that  has  to  be  learned,  this  identifying  of  oneself  with  the 
God  who  is  Oneself,  instead  of  with  the  animal  which  is  one 's 
instrument. ' ' 

Let  me  lay  stress  on  the  word  ' '  self-recollectedness. ' ' 
We  have  to  remember  ourselves,  we  have  to  remember  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  machine  and  the  motive  power,  be- 
tween the  instrument  and  the  user.  In  the  next  couple  of 
pages  the  Master  explains  to  us  how  we  may  recollect  our- 
selves, by  showing  us  what  the  astral  and  mental  bodies  re- 
spectively desire  on  their  own  account.  He  has  already  told 
us  how  the  physical  body  tries  to  bring  into  submission  the 
self  within — "the  physical  body  wants  to  rest,  to  go  out 
walking,  to  eat  and  drink;  and  the  man  who  does  not  know 

74 


says  to  himself :  '  I  want  to  do  these  things. '  ' :  But  we  must 
say  to  all  three  bodies — physical,  astral,  mental — "you  shall 
not  hinder  me  in  doing  good  work."  In  other  words  we 
must  recollect  our  higher  self,  however  much  our  lower  ve- 
hicles— its  instruments — may  strive  to  make  themselves 
heard  for  their  much  speaking.  People  who  do  not  know 
are  so  much  occupied  with  their  lower  bodies  that  they  iden- 
tify themselves  with  them  almost  entirely,  and  it  is  only 
under  some  great  moral  pressure  that  they  realise  too  late 
that  the  indulgence  of  the  lower  selves  has  meant  the  with- 
drawal of  the  higher  self  from  the  position  it  might  have 
taken,  from  the  power  with  which  it  might  have  endowed  its 
instruments.  The  value  of  the  lower  bodies  consists  in  their 
capacity  to  glean  the  necessary  experiences  of  the  plane  to 
which  the  matter  composing  them  belongs.  If  they  simply 
immerse  themselves  in  the  activities  of  their  own  plane,  in- 
stead of  allowing  the  higher  plane  bodies  to  select  as  far  as 
possible  such  experiences  as  may  help  the  growth  of  the 
individual  as  a  whole,  the  result  will  be  that  the  bodies  will 
become  more  and  more  entangled  in  increasingly  lower  strata 
of  their  respective  planes  and  will  finally  with  great  suf- 
fering be  discarded  by  the  Self  whose  bidding  they  have 
scorned.  The  law  of  Karma  is  very  rigid,  and  a  body  de- 
graded to  base  uses  in  one  life  when  it  might  have  listened 
to  the  God  within,  becomes  unable  to  serve  its  owner  at  some 
future  time,  and  in  the  misery  of  a  longing  to  help  united  to 
instruments  through  which  no  work  can  be  done,  is  gradually 
learned  the  lesson  that  true  happiness  and  progress  are  alone 
possible  when  the  lower  acts  in  perfect  deference  to  the  will 
of  the  higher.  How  often  is  not  the  spirit  willing  while  the 
flesh  is  weak — the  result  of  not  having  yet  learned  the  rela- 
tive values  of  the  various  bodies  through  which  we  contact  the 
many  depths  of  God's  manifested  universe?  The  flesh  is 
weak  when  it  tries  to  depend  on  itself  alone,  but  it  becomes 
infinitely  strong  when  serving  but  as  the  reflection  of  its 
spiritual  counterpart. 


75 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  ASTRAL  AND  MENTAL  BODIES 

"The  astral  body/'  says  the  Master,  "has  its  desires — 
dozens  of  them ;  it  wants  you  to  be  angry,  to  say  sharp  words, 
to  feel  jealous,  to  be  greedy  for  money,  to  envy  other  peo- 
ple their  possessions,  to  yield  yourself  to  depression  .  .  . 
not  because  it  wishes  to  harm  you,  but  because  it  likes  vio- 
lent vibrations,  and  likes  to  change  them  constantly.  But 
you  want  none  of  these  things,  and  therefore  you  must  dis- 
criminiate  between  your  wants  and  your  bodies.' ' 

Let  me  quote  again  from  notes  taken  of  Mrs.  Besant's 
instructions  on  this  paragraph:  "You  must  exercise  con- 
tinual watchfulness,  constant  care,  because  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  realise  that  you  are  not  your  astral  body,  than  to 
realise  that  you  are  not  your  physical  body.  But  if  you 
look  at  the  examples  which  the  Master  gives,  you  will  see 
how  continually  you  identify  yourselves  with  your  astral 
body.  'I  am  angry  or  irritable,'  you  will  say.  Probably 
you  will  not  say  'I  am  jealous'  if  you  are  conscious  of  the 
feeling  of  jealousy;  for  though  we  may  identify  ourselves 
with  our  feelings,  we  try  to  veil  the  lower  ones — so  you 
might  call  this  feeling,  not  jealousy,  but  love.  'I  am  hurt 
because  so  and  so  whom  I  love,  loves  some  one  better  than 
me!'  Love  is  such  a  far-reaching  all-embracing  virtue,  that 
we  like  to  shelter  under  it  and  attribute  to  it  all  sorts  of 
things  with  which  it  has  nothing  whatsoever  to  do.  Far 
better  is  it  to  examine  honestly  our  feelings  and  not  to  play 
with  ourselves  and  deceive  ourselves  with  pretty  words.  In 
the  case  under  consideration,  you  are  not  hurt  because  you 
love  your  friend,  but  because  you  desire  to  appropriate  that 
friend  to  yourself.     Wherever  there  is  this  feeling  of  being 

76 


hurt,  it  springs  from  selfishness,  which  is  at  the  opposite  pole 
to  love.  YOU — the  Self,  cannot  feel  jealous,  but  your  astral 
body  can,  neither  are  YOU  angry  or  irritable :  these  are  all 
moods  of  the  astral  body." 

I  wish  to  lay  stress  on  the  fact  that  when  we  feel  hurt 
or  offended  we  are  as  a  matter  of  fact  giving  way  to  selfish- 
ness. People  will  tell  you  that  it  is  only  natural  sometimes 
to  feel  hurt  or  offended,  and  I  entirely  agree  if  by  the  word 
" natural' '  they  mean  "inevitable  at  a  certain  stage  of 
growth.' '  We  could  not  feel  sympathy  with  people  who  feel 
hurt  or  offended  had  we  not  experienced  the  feeling  ourselves. 
On  the  other  hand  we  cannot  show  them  the  way  to  over- 
come the  feeling  unless  we  ourselves  have  more  or  less  over- 
come it;  and  the  Master  emphasises  the  fact  that  the  real  "I" 
in  each  one  of  us,  the  ' '  I "  we  express  so  loosely  in  words  in 
daily  life — continually  identifying  it  with  bodies  which  only 
last  a  short  time — can  never  feel  these  fleeting  moods.  From  my 
own  experience,  although  I  have  only  just  begun  real  work, 
I  can  bear  emphatic  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  more  I 
pay  attention  to  the  "I"  within  the  more  clearly  do  I  realise 
that  my  moods  and  feelings  of  the  lower  kind  are  obnoxious 
to  it.  I  often  give  way  to  temptations  of  various  kinds,  to 
moods  and  feelings,  but  I  am  growing  increasingly  conscious 
of  a  sense  of  strong  discomfort  whenever  the  lower  has  its 
way  unchecked.  Not  being  yet  sufficiently  master  of  my 
lower  bodies,  they  often  carry  all  before  them,  but  I  am 
not  happy  in  their  victory  and  even  while  they  are  tempo- 
rarily triumphant  I  know  full  well  that  I  am  not  well — that 
the  real  "I"  is,  as  it  were,  ailing.  We  know  much  about 
physical  ill-health,  but  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  place  our  feet 
upon  the  path  we  learn  the  meaning  of  spiritual  ill-health, 
the  remedies  for  which  are  to  be  found  within  the  covers  of 
At  the  Feet  of  the  Master.  Spiritual  ill-health  is  as  painful 
as  physical  ill-health — I  think  more  so;  for  with  the  eager- 
ness to  serve  comes  the  lack  of  power,  a  lack  due  to  giving 
way  to  the  fleeting  moods  of  vehicles  which  ought  to  have 
been  servants  and  not  masters.     And  there  is  nothing  more 

77 


racking  than  an  inability  to  make  the  bodies  obey  the  be- 
hests of  the  spirit. 

I  wish  to  lay  stress  on  the  Master's  statement  that  the 
astral  body  wants  things,  ' '  not  because  it  wishes  to  harm  you 
but  because  it  likes  violent  vibrations  and  likes  to  change 
them  constantly." 

You  must  remember  that  our  various  bodies  are  made 
up  of  matter  which  is  still  on  the  downward  arc  of  evolu- 
tion, and  the  result  is  that  this  matter  evolves  by  violent  and 
constantly  changing  vibrations.  Mrs.  Besant  remarks:  "Stu- 
dents have  sometimes  put  to  me  a  curious  question:  ' Ought 
we  not  to  give  it  the  opportunity  of  evolving V  No!  You 
can,  without  any  fear  of  being  selfish,  refuse  to  give  these 
vibrations.  It  can  find  them  in  savages,  in  animals ;  they  need 
them  as  experiences  to  bring  out  moods  of  consciousness,  and 
you  must  not  sacrifice  your  higher  evolution  for  this.  The 
constant  desire  of  the  astral  body  for  violent  changes  is  a 
thing  which  should  help  you  to  realise  that  it  is  not  you. 
Moods  come  over  you  for  no  apparent  cause,  and  not  ap- 
proved by  your  reason;  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  you, 
but  are  the  independent  activities  of  the  astral  body.  You 
must  realise  this,  and  not  allow  yourself  to  be  made  the  play- 
ground for  all  these  changing  moods." 

The  Master  emphasises  the  fact  that  you  want  none  of 
these  things,  and,  therefore,  you  must  discriminate  between 
your  wants  and  your  body's.  I  think  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  the  more  we  make  progress  the  greater  the  force  which 
pours  through  our  various  bodies.  The  result  is  that  while 
our  higher  emotions  are  infinitely  more  powerful  than  they 
were  before,  our  lower  emotions  also  gain  in  strength.  Each 
one  of  us,  who  has  set  himself  deliberately  to  tread  the  path 
of  Service,  experiences  the  difficulty  that,  while  he  can  do 
much  better  work  than  before,  he  seems  to  have  many  more 
obstacles  than  he  has  hitherto  known  of;  in  fact  all  his 
bodies  become  more  highly  vitalised,  and  the  force  flowing 
through  them  affects  the  lower  as  well  as  the  higher.  So  it 
is  only  safe  to  make  special  effort  when  one  feels  sure  that, 

78 


however  much  the  lower  may  gain  in  vitality,  the  higher  will 
always  be  able  to  dominate. 

Everyone  who  deliberately  places  himself  on  the  side  of 
evolution,  on  the  side  of  self-sacrifice  rather  than  on  that 
of  self-seeking,  must  be  prepared  to  pay  the  price  of  the 
deeper  sympathies  he  will  inevitably  experience,  by  laying 
himself  open  to  greater  temptations  than  those  which  have 
hitherto  come  his  way.  If  he  is  really  in  earnest,  success  is 
bound  to  come  sooner  or  later,  and  when  he  feels  that  trou- 
bles are  overwhelming  him  he  may  well  say  to  himself: 
"  These  added  difficulties  are  the  price  I  am  paying  for  the 
greater  power  of  service  which  I  have  gained."  "Whatever 
happens,  it  is  at  least  unwise  to  brood  over  your  failures,  or 
to  imagine  that  a  past  mistake  can  never  be  rectified.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  ancient  of  maxims  that  we  should  not  look 
behind.  If  we  do  look  behind  we  feel  despair,  repentance, 
remorse.  All  of  these  moods,  as  Mrs.  Besant  tells  us,  are  a 
waste  of  strength.  The  energy  you  put  into  repentance 
would  be  better  spent  on  cultivating  the  emotion  opposite  to 
that  which  causes  the  repentance.  "Do  not  look  back;  .  .  . 
pick  out  all  the  opposite  moods  and  practice  them  all  day 
long.  If  your  astral  body  wants  you  to  be  impatient,  set 
your  mind  on  patience;  think  of  patience  in  your  morning 
meditation  and  practice  it  throughout  the  whole  day.  If 
your  astral  body  wants  you  to  feel  jealous,  do  not  think  any 
more  about  jealousy,  think  of  unselfishness  and  practice  it 
hard,  there  will  be  no  room  for  jealousy  then.  Your  mind 
cannot  be  filled  with  two  opposing  things  at  the  same  time." 
In  other  words  we  must  strive  to  be  as  positive  as  we  can, 
as  long  as  we  can.  "We  must  strive  to  emphasise  our  better 
natures  rather  than  to  feel  grieved  at  the  mistakes  we  have 
made. 

Personally,  I  believe  most  strongly  that  the  past  can  be 
modified,  both  by  the  present  and  by  the  future.  I  think 
that  our  attitude  in  the  present  can  so  modify  the  past  that 
we  may  transmute  a  mistake  into  a  force  for  good.  Similarly, 
by  being  careful  in  the  present  the  future  will  be  made  se- 


79 


eurfc,  and  will,  in  its  turn,  react  upon  the  past.  From  a  certain 
standpoint  of  consciousness  everything  is  in  the  "Eternal 
Now."  And  all  that  we  have  done,  all  that  we  are  doing, 
all  that  we  shall  do,  is  summed  up  in  the  "Now."  The  mis- 
chief I  may  have  done  to  my  friend  last  year,  I  may  consid- 
erably repair  by  striving  to  be  of  special  service  to  him 
today.  The  jealous  thought  I  may  have  had  some  time  ago, 
I  may  render  comparatively  impotent  by  surrounding  my 
friend  with  strong  thoughts  of  unselfish  good-will  at  every 
possible  opportunity.  I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that  every 
action  is  not  followed  by  its  appropriate  Karma.  But  who 
shall  say  where  an  action  begins  and  where  it  ends?  Down 
here  we  see  things  separated  off  into  compartments:  the 
Master  is  able  to  see  much  more  of  unity  than  we  can  in  this 
world  of  separated  existences. 

The  Mental  Body 

The  Master  proceeds  to  point  out  in  what  ways  the 
mental  body  strives  through  lower  thought  forms  to  minister 
to  the  needs  of  the  matter  of  which  it  is  composed.  Pride 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  common  conditions  of  our  mental 
bodies.  "Your  mental  body  wishes  to  think  itself  proudly 
separate,  to  think  much  of  itself  and  little  of  others.  Even 
when  you  have  turned  it  away  from  worldly  things,  it  still 
tries  to  calculate  for  self,  to  make  you  think  of  your  own  pro- 
gress, instead  of  thinking  of  the  Master's  work  and  of  help- 
ing others."  Mrs.  Besant  remarks  that  probably  the  mind 
body  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  control.  In  my  own  ex- 
perience, the  mind  body  seems  able  to  deceive  us  more  suc- 
cessfully than  the  other  bodies,  for  the  mind  associates  itself 
with  each  individual's  personal  progress,  and  makes  him 
think  how  he  is  getting  on.  "How  near  am  I  to  the  next 
definite  stage  on  life's  pathway?"  is  a  thought  which  often 
comes  to  those  who  are  striving  to  lead  the  spiritual  life,  and 
it  is  undoubtedly  a  very  natural  thought.  On  the  other 
hand,  spiritual  progress  depends  on  service  to  others  and  not 

80 


upon  individual  growth,  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  the  more  you  grow  the  greater  your  capacity  to  be 
of  use. 

We  must  not  forget  the  essential  unity  of  all,  and  this 
means  that  no  individual  growth  is  possible  save  as  others 
grow  too,  while  the  growth  of  those  around  us  inevitably 
stimulates  our  own.  In  other  words,  it  is  no  use  thinking 
in  terms  of  ourselves  alone  or  of  the  few,  we  have  to  think 
in  terms  of  the  many,  so  as  gradually  to  reach  the  Master's 
position  of  thinking  in  terms  of  all. 

Undoubtedly  the  mind  body  depends  for  the  complete- 
ness of  its  lower  aspect  upon  the  development  of  its  special 
capacities  and  powers,  and  such  development  begins  with 
making  these  capacities  and  powers  grow  under  the  forcing 
impulse  of  competition  and  individualism.  But  all  who  read 
these  pages  should  have  passed  this  stage  of  growth,  and 
should  have  come  to  the  point  of  realising  that  there  is  no 
value  in  power  save  as  it  is  used  to  help  the  one  whole.  And 
so  when  the  mental  body  wishes  to  think  it  is  proudly  sep- 
arate, we  must  look  upon  this  condition  as  a  survival  of  the 
past,  as  something  we  have,  in  reality,  outgrown  and  to  which 
we  should  no  longer  pay  attention.  In  my  own  experience, 
the  quickest  way  of  developing  the  mental  faculties  at  our 
stage  of  growth  is  to  use  them  in  the  service  of  others.  A 
boy  who  is  weak  in  any  special  subject  of  study  can  best 
stimulate  what  he  lacks  by  trying  to  find  someone  even  weaker 
than  himself,  so  that  he  may  find  it  possible  usefully  to  em- 
ploy even  the  little  power  he  possesses. 

Each  one  of  us  has  the  germ  of  perfection  in  us,  and  we 
are  only  weak  in  any  special  direction  by  comparison  with 
others  who  are  strong.  Compared  with  those  who  are  weaker, 
we  ourselves  are  strong.  Remember,  always,  that  behind  the 
apparent  imperfections  are  the  germs  of  perfection,  en- 
shrined within  the  God  within  us.  We  are  Gods  in  the  mak- 
ing, and  however  negligible  our  capacities  may  seem  when 
compared  with  those  of  our  elder  Brethren,  they  have  very 
appreciable  value  towards  those  who  know  less  than  we  do 

81 


ourselves.  And  by  helping  those  to  whom  our  weakness  is 
as  strength  we  gradually  emphasise  that  strength  and  so 
develop  faculties  hitherto  apparently  of  little  force. 

So  you  see  that,  in  the  long  run,  the  great  fact  of  unity 
is  the  assurance  to  each  one  of  us  that  we  have  it  in  our 
power,  in  course  of  time,  to  become  even  as  the  Masters  are. 
"We  all  depend  upon  each  other,  we  all  grow  through  failures, 
and  every  weakness  is  but  an  undeveloped  strength. 

Temptations  and  Opportunities 

Mrs.  Besant  has  often  told  us  that  the  true  server  and 
occultist  sees  in  all  surrounding  life  opportunities  rather  than 
temptations.  To  the  ordinary  individual  temptations  must 
be  avoided  or  at  least  guarded  against.  A  temptation  is 
something  we  may  succumb  to,  through  which  we  may 
stumble.  But  to  an  earnest  worker  who  is  beginning  to  un- 
derstand the  true  value  of  life,  a  temptation  is  an  occasion 
for  the  fortifying  of  a  weak  place,  for  the  building  up  of  a 
virtue,  of  a  strength  in  place  of  a  weakness.  He  does  not 
try  to  avoid  temptations,  but  rather  to  stand  firm  in  their  midst 
and  to  put  forth  that  very  strength  whose  absence  made  the 
temptation  possible  at  all.  I  quite  admit  that  certain  people 
would  do  well  to  run  away  from  temptations,  but  anyone 
who  means  business  must  endeavour  to  gain  strength  to  sur- 
mount them  from  the  reserve  force  of  earnestness  which  will 
carry  him  through  most  troubles  if  he  will  only  let  it.  Let 
me  emphasise  once  more  in  this  connection  the  need  for  self- 
recollectedness.  Eemember  who  you  are  and  for  what  you 
are  striving,  and  remember  this  especially  when  a  difficulty 
or  temptation  threatens  to  distract  an  all  too  willing  mind 
from  its  Self.  The  mere  endeavour  to  remember,  still  more 
the  act  of  memory,  brings  its  own  strength  and  makes  you 
master  of  the  difficulty  or  temptation  instead  of  its  slave. 
"You  must  watch  unceasingly,"  says  the  Master,  "or  you 
will  fail."  Habit  is  everything  in  these  matters  and  you 
will  either  fall  into  the  habit  of  succumbing  to  temptations 

82 


or  you  will  fall  into  the  habit  of  transmuting  them  into  added 
capacity.  Set  up  a  good  habit  and  it  will  carry  you  through 
troubles  you  would  never  have  thought  it  possible  to  endure. 
Set  up  a  bad  habit  and  it  will  take  you  a  long  time  to  unravel 
the  knot  into  which  you  have  twisted  yourself — it  cannot  be 
cut!  Self-recollectedness  means  " thinking  of  the  Master's 
work  and  of  helping  others, ' '  and  when  you  think  in  this  way 
you  are  learning  to  become  the  alchemist  of  your  temptations. 

Right  and  Wrong 

We  now  come  to  a  most  important  statement  by  the 
Master:  "Between  Right  and  Wrong  Occultism  knows  no 
compromise.  At  whatever  apparent  cost  that  which  is  right 
you  must  do,  that  which  is  wrong  you  must  not  do,  no  matter 
what  the  ignorant  may  think  or  say."  Who  is  an  occultist? 
To  this  question  we  have  an  answer  in  an  earlier  portion  of 
At  the  Feet  of  the  Master:  "What  religion  a  man  holds,  to 
what  race  he  belongs — these  things  are  not  important;  the 
really  important  thing  is  .  .  .  the  knowledge  of  God's  plan 
for  men."  I  have  italicised  the  last  sentence  because  I  be- 
lieve the  occultist  to  be  one  who  is  at  least  beginning  to  know 
God's  plan,  no  one  can  know  it  in  its  entirety.  An  occultist 
has  begun  to  use  his  discrimination  to  distinguish  between 
the  real  and  the  unreal,  between  darkness  and  light,  and 
knows  that  death  is  but  the  instrument  of  immortality.  You 
who  are  servants  of  the  Star,  perhaps  members  of  the  Theo- 
sophical  Society,  are  occultists  in  the  becoming,  because  you 
know  some  of  the  truths  at  present  hidden  from  the  major- 
ity of  mankind.  So  it  is  you  whom  the  Master  addresses  when 
He  declares  that  at  whatever  apparent  cost  the  right  must  be 
chosen.  Note  the  word  "apparent."  There  is  no  real  cost 
to  yourself  or  to  others  when  you  choose  the  right  and  turn 
away  from  the  wrong.  Great  indeed  is  the  truth  and  it  shall 
prevail,  however  much  error  may  seem  for  the  time  to  tri- 
umph. Pain  comes  because  of  wrong-doing,  and  though  it 
is  true  that  a  right  action  often  causes  considerable  pain  to 

83 


us  ix  wo  are  breaking  through  hi 

:.ng,  and  ;r  nature  is  still  striving  to  t 

the  lower  is  but  the  inevitable 

ne  and  joy  ause 

He  is  in  a  all  that 

a  bondage  the  m  hieh  it  has  grown  to  and 

There  is  onl; 

m  the  p  ..nt  than  cur- 

se who  do  not  understand  the  n.  r  our  ae- 

tion.  In  I  purify 

lower  nature,  and  this  looked  - 

when  we  idei  the  lower  which 

them  much  n  shly  than  tl 

uiueh  upon  the  opinion 

D  the  hope  o: 
the  judgment  of  our  fell  vhat,  I  think,  is  meai 

.11  find,  if  you  look  hon  ordinary  life 

is  a  .  the  outer  world,  people  are  al- 

ii that  which  they  know  to  be 
right,  in  order  to  r.  r  for  themselves,  in 

meet  t! 

r  people's  opinions  is  p 
a  weakness  which  is  amiable  at  lease 

.  .  .     Plent  -  and 

social  qu  :i  reform.  .  .  I  know 

our  highest  ideals  immediately,  any 
more  than  you  can  get  from  :om  of  a  mountain  to  the 

top  by  taking  .  to  scale  your  moun- 

tain, taken  with  I  of  reaching  the 

summit.  u   nean 

lower  your  ideal.     That  is  fa:  a'..      One  thing  is  right,  while 

84 


the  pleasant  is  another/  says  a  Hindu  scripture,  '  right  unto 
pleasant  the  wise  man  preferreth.'  " 

I  grant  you  that  the  path  thus  shown  to  us  is  hard,  be- 
cause we  have  hitherto  been  living  in  a  world  of  compromises. 
But  the  less  we  compromise  the  more  real  joy  life  brings  to 
us  and  the  more  definite  consciousness  we  gain  of  the  Mas- 
ter's world  to  which  we  all  belong.  Later  I  shall  take 
up  the  latter  portion  of  the  whole  question  as  to  right  and 
wrong  in  the  light  of  the  Master's  direction  as  to  how  we 
reach  the  right,  and  how  we  may  distinguish  our  whims, 
prejudices  and  fancies  from  that  which  is  really  right. 


85 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  HIDDEN  LAWS  OF  NATUEE 

I  do  not  want  to  trouble  you  much  about  the  hidden  laws 
of  nature,  because  as  you  grow  you  will  begin  to  find  out  for 
yourselves  what  these  hidden  laws  are.  Briefly,  you  must  try 
to  understand  that  the  world 's  laws,  those  which  we  call  ' '  con- 
ventions ' '  and  ' '  customs, ' '  are  by  no  means  necessarily  binding 
upon  you.  People  are  far  too  apt  to  accept  the  world  as  it 
is,  and  to  allow  themselves  to  drift  with  it  rather  than  take 
the  trouble  of  trying  to  guide.  Each  one  of  us  must  try  to 
find  his  own  footing,  and  take  his  stand  on  principles  he  has 
tested  for  himself  before  accepting.  To  do  this  you  must 
not  rest  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are,  nor  with  the  ordi- 
nary interpretation  of  life  as  accepted  by  the  average  indi- 
vidual. Your  conscience  and  your  reason  are  the  God  within 
you,  and  you  must  ever  seek  to  give  these  two  forces  all  pos- 
sible opportunities  to  guide  you  to  right  thought,  right  speech 
and  right  action.  If  you  do  this,  you  will  find  that  they  will 
tell  you  much  about  nature  that  the  ordinary  person  does  not 
know  simply  because  he  regulates  his  conduct  in  life  from  that 
which  is  outside  him  than  from  the  God  within.  You  will 
thus  come  into  contact  with  laws  of  nature,  hidden  from  the 
gaze  of  most  people,  which  will  powerfully  aid  you  in  estab- 
lishing yourself  upon  right  lines  of  growth.  For  example, 
most  people  have  thought  that  the  greatest  good  of  the  great- 
est number  should  be  the  aim  and  object  of  all  legislation 
and  statecraft,  but  the  law  of  nature  is  that  only  that  which 
is  pleasant  for  all  can  really  be  pleasant  for  any  single  indi- 
vidual, to  quote  the  Master's  statement.  Under  modern  con- 
ditions we  tend  to  ignore  minorities,  because  we  do  not  yet 

86 


know  how  to  deal  with  them;  but  to  the  One  minorities  are 
of  equal  importance  with  majorities.  And  you  and  I  have  to 
learn  how  to  bring  this  as  yet  hidden  law  into  operation,  so 
as  to  do  only  those  things  which  God  wills — these  being  the 
only  things  really  useful  for  all.  Our  hidden  law,  is,  then, 
that  we  are  concerned  neither  with  majorities  nor  with 
minorities,  but  with  the  will  of  God,  and  if  we  can  only  un- 
derstand His  will  we  shall  see  how  all  the  various  modes  of 
life — however  opposed  on  the  surface' — are  but  aspects  of 
Him  seen  from  a  certain  angle.  This  will  give  us  tolerance, 
while  at  the  same  time  we  may  feel  it  our  duty  strongly  to 
press  any  particular  aspect  of  His  will,  seen  from  some 
special  aspect,  which  our  conscience  and  our  reason  tell  us  to 
be  of  dominant  value  for  the  moment.  When  we  come  later 
on  to  deal  with  tolerance,  I  shall  have  much  to  say  on  the 
need  for  virility  in  tolerance.  I  content  myself  here  with 
asking  you  to  remember  that  however  tolerant  you  may  be  of 
others'  views  and  attitudes,  never  forget  that  you,  too,  have 
your  message  to  give  to  the  world — you,  too,  have  your  angle 
of  vision  to  emphasise,  and  you  need  be  no  less  tolerant  of 
other  angles  of  vision  because  you  pour  your  whole  soul 
through  your  own. 

Then  again,  to  take  up  other  as  yet  hidden  laws  of  na- 
ture, there  is  the  knowledge  as  to  the  various  bodies  which 
each  one  of  us  possesses,  knowledge  as  to  portions  of  God 's  plan 
for  men  which  the  world  has  yet  to  discover,  knowledge  as 
to  the  existence  of  Elder  Brethren,  knowledge  as  to  the  laws 
of  health  and  magnetism.  Much  of  such  knowledge  is  at 
present  veiled  from  the  gaze  of  most  of  us.  But  you  will 
gradually  learn,  as  some  of  us  have  learned,  and  then  you  will 
be  much  more  careful,  more  deliberate,  more  thoughtful  be- 
cause you  will  know  that,  though  nothing  matters  much  and 
most  things  do  not  matter  at  all,  yet  the  motive  behind  the 
" things,' '  the  attitude  of  mind  and  feeling  towards  them — 
these  matter  considerably.  And  you  can  only  serve  the 
Master  truly  when  you  think  before  you  speak  or  act,  or,  as 
the  phrase  goes  on,  when  you  "look  before  you  leap."  Hasti- 


Itne  pnras 


87 


ness  and  impulsiveness,  however  common,  must  not  be  looked 
upon  as  natural,  and  so  excused.  Hastiness  is  carelessness, 
carelessness  is  slovenliness,  and  slovenliness,  from  this  stand- 
point, is  spiritual  dirtiness.  We  need  spiritual  cleanliness, 
and  to  obtain  it  we  must  take  care  to  reflect  beforehand  on 
the  result  of  the  proposed  feeling  or  action  or  thought.  So 
you  see  how  a  knowledge  of  some  of  these  hidden  laws 
strikes  at  the  root  of  your  very  being,  and  carries  you  along 
lines  often  far  removed  from  the  road  on  which  the  world  at 
present  travels. 

The  Important  and  the  Unimportant 

The  Master  now  teaches  us  as  to  the  relative  importance 
of  various  courses  of  action,  from  His  standpoint  and  not 
from  that  of  the  world.  "Firm  as  a  rock  where  right  and 
wrong  are  concerned,  yield  always  to  others  in  things  which 
do  not  matter.' '  Or,  as  He  has  put  it  in  another  way:  "be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  Occultism  knows  no  compromise. ' ' 

The  sentence  I  quoted  just  before  this  one  acts  as  com- 
mentary on  it,  and  shows  how  firmness  must  always  be  pre- 
ceded by  discrimination — a  quality  which,  as  Mrs.  Besant 
has  pointed  out,  is  translated  in  the  outer  world  as  "tact." 
The  difficulty  for  most  people  is  to  decide  as  to  what  is  really 
right  and  as  to  what  is  really  wrong.  They  say:  "If  only 
we  knew  that,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  at  all,  and  we 
could  quite  easily  let  all  else  go."  Now  the  Master  has  been 
telling  us  in  an  earlier  part  of  the  book  that  we  must  try  to 
realise  that  our  bodies  are  not  ourselves.  "You  must  dig 
deep  down  into  yourself  to  find  the  God  within  you,  and  listen 
to  His  voice,  which  is  your  voice.  Do  not  mistake  your 
bodies  for  yourself,  neither  the  physical  body,  nor  the  astral, 
nor  the  mental.  Each  one  of  them  will  pretend  to  be  the 
Self,  in  order  to  gain  what  it  wants."  What  you  have  to  do 
then  is  to  try  to  be  as  sure  as  you  can  that  any  idea  you  may 
for  the  moment  have  as  to  right  and  wrong  is  not  one  of  your 
bodies  pretending  to  be  the  God  within  you  so  as  to  get  some- 

88 


thing  it  wants  for  itself.  If  you  avoid  acting  hastily,  if  you 
will  give  yourself  time  to  do  a  little  of  that  digging  deep 
down  of  which  the  Master  speaks,  you  will  be  almost  certain 
to  know  whether  what  is  wanted  is  really  right  or  not.  It  is 
all  a  matter  of  practice,  for,  the  more  you  practice,  the  big- 
ger the  channel  leading  to  the  real  "you,"  the  more  quickly 
you  can  at  any  time  travel  into  yourself  and  know  the  will 
of  the  God  within  you.  Then,  again,  the  more  you  reach  the 
God  within  you,  the  more  you  become  the  master  of  your 
various  bodies,  instead  of  allowing  them  in  turn  to  dominate 
you.  Their  various  desires,  therefore,  will  grow  feebler  and 
feebler,  until  you  will  at  once  be  able  to  distinguish  between 
that  which  they  want  and  that  which  you — the  real  you — 
want.  Do  not  expect  to  be  able  at  once  unerringly  to  dis- 
criminate between  right  and  wrong,  between  the  fictitious 
"right"  of  your  bodies  and  the  real  "right"  of  yourself. 
At  first,  just  try  to  stop,  when  you  are  about  to  do  something 
apparently  "right,"  and  dig  a  little,  that  is  to  say,  make  a 
little  appeal  to  the  best  in  you.  If  you  allow  yourself  to  be 
carried  away  at  once,  the  chances  are  that  you  are  allowing 
one  of  your  bodies  to  put  its  own  interpretation  on  "right" 
and  "wrong,"  and  you  begin  to  juggle  with  conscience  by 
saying:  "Well,  at  any  rate  there  is  no  harm  in  doing  this." 
Kemember  that  nothing  matters  much,  most  things  not  at  all ; 
so  that  ninety-nine  out  of  the  hundred  occasions  on  which 
you  think  you  are  following  a  principle  you  are,  as  a  matter 
of  actual  fact,  simply  being  led  by  bodies  which  ought  to  be 
your  servants  and  not  your  masters.  No  man  can  serve  two 
masters,  still  less  the  three — astral,  physical  and  mental.  We 
can  only  serve  one  master — the  God  within  us. 

Mrs.  Besant  puts  the  same  idea  in  another  way  when 
she  tells  us  i  l  Give  way  in  everything,  save  in  matters  of  prin- 
ciple." And  the  fact  is  that  while  you  must  be  as  firm  as  a 
rock  as  far  as  regards  the  general  line  or  principle  of  conduct 
on  which  your  life  is  based,  in  almost  every  act  of  daily  life, 
in  almost  all  your  relations  with  other  people,  you  will  be 
able  to  give  way.     "You  must  be  always  gentle,  and  kindly, 

89 


reasonable  and  accommodating,  leaving  to  others  the  same  full 
liberty  which  you  need  for  yourself. ' '  To  do  this  is  to  exercise 
true  discrimination,  or,  to  employ  the  worldly  phrase,  "tact." 
But  remember  that  tact  in  this  sense  does  not  mean  what  it  so 
often  is  supposed  to  mean — making  things  pleasant  at  the 
expense  of  truth.  It  means  sympathy  and  sweet  reasonable- 
ness, "leaving  to  others  the  same  full  liberty  which  you  need 
for  yourself."  You  could  have  no  truer  definition  of  tact 
than  that. 

Listen  to  Mrs.  Besant's  words  on  this  important  point: 
"You  see  what  is  important  in  a  certain  thing  that  has 
to  be  done,  and  look  after  that;  in  all  the  rest  you  let  the 
people  do  exactly  what  they  like,  and  you  point  your  will  to 
the  one  thing  in  the  middle  that  matters.  They  will  think 
what  a  delightfully  yielding  person  you  are  and  follow  you 
quite  happily  on  the  important  point,  hardly  conscious  that 
they  are  following  at  all.  You  have  used  discrimination; 
you  have  thrown  with  both  hands  to  people  all  the  other 
things — the  things  which  they  think  matter,  and  have  gone 
steadily  on  to  the  one  thing  you  wanted.  This  is  the  thing 
which  the  fanatic  forgets,  and  therefore  he  does  not  succeed, 
while  the  Occultist  always  succeeds.  Yoga,  you  remember, 
is  '  skill  in  action. '  The  fanatic  will  not  yield  on  things  which 
do  not  matter;  he  does  not  discriminate  between  the  import- 
ant and  the  unimportant,  so  he  rubs  people's  fur  all  up  the 
wrong  way,  and  then  they  will  not  follow  him,  however  right 
he  may  be,  and  however  important  his  main  object.  If,  in- 
stead, you  smooth  the  fur  down,  they  purr  and  come  along 
after  you.  This  fact  is  based  on  an  important  fact  in  nature. 
In  both  men  and  animals  it  is  an  instinct  to  pull  in  opposi- 
tion to  anyone  who  is  trying  to  pull  them.  Do  not  pull  and 
do  not  push  the  people,  then  they  will  come  with  you  will- 
ingly. I  saw  a  little  instance  of  this  fact  here  the  other  day. 
A  man  was  trying  to  pull  a  calf  along  and,  of  course,  the 
calf  had  planted  its  four  feet  into  the  ground,  stuck  its  tail 
out,  and  was  pulling  against  the  man  for  all  it  was  worth.  If 
the  man  had  been  sensible  he  would  have  stopped  pulling, 

90 


and  then  the  other  animal  would  have  stopped  pulling  against 
him,  and  with  a  little  patting  he  would  have  got  it  to  follow 
him  willingly.  Take  a  lesson  from  that.  If  people  will  not 
do  what  you  want,  look  for  the  fault  in  yourself.  You  will 
generally  find  that  it  is  something  in  your  way  of  acting  that 
indisposes  them.  I  follow  this  plan  myself.  When  there  is 
friction  and  trouble  in  a  place,  I  sit  down  and  think  what  it 
is  I  am  doing  that  produces  these,  and  find  another  way.  It 
is  no  use  trying  to  force  people.  You  can  force  them  to  a 
certain  extent,  no  doubt,  but  you  only  create  opposition  and 
trouble  by  doing  so.  But  put  a  considerable  attraction  be- 
fore them,  and  they  will  all  come  round  it  of  their  own 
accord.  This  implies  a  faculty  of  leadership,  and  it  is  a 
faculty  which  the  Masters  will  want  of  you  in  the  future,  so 
try  to  develop  it.  The  Masters  will  want  you  to  know  how 
to  lead,  so  that  you  may  help  people  along,  instead  of  ham- 
mering them  along/ ' 


91 


CHAPTER    IX 

"A  SMALL  THING' ' 

The  Master  proceeds  to  draw  a  very  important  distinc- 
tion between  that  which  is  worth  doing  and  that  which  is  not. 
He  says:  "Try  to  see  what  is  worth  doing:  and  remember 
that  you  must  not  judge  by  the  size  of  the  thing.  A  small 
thing  which  is  directly  useful  in  the  Master's  work  is  far 
better  worth  doing  than  a  large  thing  which  the  world 
would  call  good." 

In  the  course  of  a  varied  experience  I  have  come  across 
many  people  who  wish  to  take  part  in  some  kind  of  activity, 
many  of  whom  come  and  offer  themselves  for  service.  I  have 
always  been  in  a  difficulty  with  regard  to  these  people,  for  I 
never  can  tell  whether  they  are  in  earnest  or  not.  One  does 
not  want  to  put  them  off  in  any  way,  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  does  one  desire  to  have  round  one  a  number  of  people 
for  whom  special  kinds  of  work  have  to  be  found.  If  a  per- 
son really  wishes  to  serve  the  Master  he  does  not  mind  in  the 
least  what  he  does.  But  most  people  are  not  content  to  do 
whatever  comes  to  hand.  Either  there  is  some  special  kind 
of  work  which  they  want  to  do,  and  they  do  not  care  about 
doing  any  other  kind,  or  they  expect  that  some  activity  shall 
be  created  for  them.  Again,  many  people  are  quite  unwill- 
ing to  begin  at  the  beginning.  They  want  to  do  work  which 
shall  draw  to  them  the  favorable  notice  of  their  fellows,  and 
they  desire,  therefore,  to  begin  in  the  middle  rather  than 
plod  through  the  early  stages  through  which  all  good  work 
must  inevitably  be  built  up. 

The  Spirit  of  Service 

Now  I  want  you  who  read  these  lines  to  look  to  see 

in  what  spirit  you  offer  yourself  for  service.     The  Master 

makes   the   matter   quite   clear.     "A    small   thing   which   is 

directly  useful  in  the   Master's  work   is   far   better   worth 

92 


doing  than  a  large  thing  which  the  world  would  call  good/' 
Try  to  see,  therefore,  whether  there  is  a  piece  of  work  being 
done  which  may  be  called  the  Master's  work:  it  is  for  you, 
individually,  to  judge  what  the  Master's  work  is.  The  Theo- 
sophical  Society,  the  Order  of  the  Star  in  the  East,  and  all 
activities  subsidiary  to  these  are  obviously  the  Master's  work, 
and  if  you  can  find  a  little  place  which  enables  you  definitely 
to  be  occupied  in  the  service  of  such  organisations,  you  are 
doing  something  which  is  far  better  worth  doing  than  some 
other  piece  of  work — perhaps  more  showy,  but  less  connected 
directly  with  the  Master's  service.  If  I  might  be  allowed  to 
indulge  in  a  little  personal  reminiscence  I  began  my  own  ser- 
vice to  the  Masters  by  putting  postage  stamps  on  envelopes, 
and  writing  out  addresses  for  the  Theosophical  Society  when 
its  Headquarters  were  at  28,  Albermarle  Street.  I  remem- 
ber being  thoroughly  determined  to  get  a  footing  in  the  Office, 
and  while  of  course  my  occupation  was  not  very  inspiring. 
I  felt  that  I  had  put  in  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge,  and  that 
it  rested  with  me  to  hammer  that  wedge  firmly  home.  I 
knew  that  I  could  do  that  work,  and  that  probably  I  should 
not  be  turned  away,  provided  I  did  not  show  any  discontent 
or  desire  for  other  work  which  might  not  at  the  moment,  be 
available  for  me.  On  the  other  hand,  I  was  on  the  spot  and 
if  any  work  should  turn  up  I  would  be  there  ready  to  take 
it  if  no  one  better  could  be  found. 

One  must,  of  course,  be  willing  to  go  on  with  a  special 
piece  of  work  for  an  indefinite  period.  We  ought  to  believe 
that  the  Master  directly  guides  the  affairs  of  our  Theo- 
sophical Society  and  of  the  Order  of  the  Star  in  the  East, 
just  as  He  guides  many  other  movements  in  the  world,  and 
we  should  be  able  to  realise  that  He  knows  who  are  working 
for  Him,  in  however  humble  a  capacity  and  that  when  the  op- 
portunity offers  he  will  give  them  suitable  work.  As  a  Master- 
Organiser  you  can  trust  Him  to  make  the  best  use  of  such  ca- 
pacities as  you  possess.  Let  me  lay  stress  on  the  desirability  of 
being  on  the  spot.  To  me,  in  the  early  days,  it  proved  invalu- 
able, for  when  Mr.  Keightley  had  to  leave  for  India  the  Theo- 

93 


sophical  Society  authorities  had  to  look  round  for  someone 
temporarily  to  take  his  place,  and  there  I  was  at  hand.  I 
did  not  ask  to  take  his  place,  but  they  knew — at  least  I  hope 
they  did — that  I  meant  business,  and  I  was  not  going  to  be 
turned  away  from  the  Master's  service  by  the  fact  that  there 
was  not  much  for  me  to  do.  The  result  was  that  while  there 
may  have  been  many  other  better  candidates  for  the  tempo- 
rary post,  I  was  selected  because  they  had  not  far  to  go  to 
look  for  me. 

Try  to  think  how  glad  you  are  to  render  even 
the  slightest  little  service  to  those  whom  you  love.  You  do 
not  want  necessarily  to  do  big  things  for  them.  It  is  not 
always  possible  to  render  big  acts  of  service,  but  those  whom 
you  love  are  as  happy  with  the  small,  kindly  deeds  as  they 
would  be  with  the  big  ones.  Indeed  I  cannot  help  thinking 
it  is  the  little  things  that  make  life  go  smoothly,  and  though 
big  pieces  of  work  have  to  be  done,  they  generally  affect  peo- 
ple in  the  mass  rather  than  individuals.  So  if  you  can  bring 
yourself  to  realise  that  the  Master  is  one  of  those  whom  you 
love  with  all  reverence,  you  will  then  find  out  more  clearly 
the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "a  small  thing  directly  useful 
in  the  Master's  work  is  far  better  worth  doing  than  a  large 
thing:  which  the  world  would  call  good.'' 

Begin  at  the  Beginning 

It  is  all  a  question  of  quiet  determination.  If  you  wish 
to  become  an  engineer  you  must  begin  at  the  beginning. 
Many  people  are  able  to  drive  motor  cars,  but  most  of  those 
who  can  drive  are  helpless  on  the  occasion  of  a  break-down. 
They  then  have  to  engage  the  services  of  someone  who  has 
been  for  years  learning  all  about  engines,  and  how  to  con- 
struct and  repair  them.  The  same  applies  equally  to  the 
Master's  service.  When  everything  goes  quite  smoothly  we 
all  of  us  can  do  quite  well,  but  every  now  and  then  something 
goes  wrong.  It  may  be  in  the  office ;  it  may  be  in  the  attitude 
of  people  either  towards  the  work  or  towards  ourselves;  it 
may  be  there  is  some  friction  between  our  fellow-workers. 

94 


To  put  things  straight,  you  must  have  had  experience  of  the 
way  in  which  things  work,  whether  they  be  office  things,  or 
human  temperaments.  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  said  once  in 
one  of  her  poems:  " Laugh  and  the  world  laughs  with  you, 
weep  and  you  weep  alone."  We  can  all  laugh  together,  but 
Theosophists  and  members  of  the  Order  of  the  Star  in  the 
East  have  to  train  themselves  to  stand  helpfully  beside  those 
who  weep.  To  do  this,  you  must  try  to  learn  wisdom  through 
the  small  things  before  you  can  hope  to  achieve  wisdom  in 
the  larger  issues  of  the  outside  world. 

I  repeat  once  more,  the  great  thing  is  willingness  to  do 
anything  that  comes  to  hand.  During  this  present  war  many 
people  who  never  used  to  put  their  hands  to  anything,  scrub 
floors,  wash  utensils,  do  all  kinds  of  so-called  dirty  jobs,  be- 
cause they  feel  now  they  must  help  and  because  they  know  help 
is  needed.  It  is  sad  that  we  should  have  needed  a  war  to  teach 
us  this  very  obvious  lesson.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  help  is  always 
being  needed,  and  we  want  people  who  will  do  all  kinds  of 
simple  things,  which,  however  trivial  they  may  appear  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world  are  little  bright  sparks  of  light  illumi- 
nating the  nobility  of  the  soul  who  is  doing  them.  Such  actions 
immediately  attract  the  Master's  attention,  and  thenceforth 
His  blessing  plays  upon  that  individual,  and  so  from  the  doing 
simple  things  will  come  the  power  to  be  of  greater  service. 

Eemember  that  when  we  are  reading  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  we  have  come  out  of  our  world  into  the  Master's 
world,  and  in  His  world  things  seem  so  very  different  from 
what  they  appear  down  here  in  the  ordinary  world  by  which 
we  are  normally  surrounded.  Never  think  of  the  world's  judg- 
ment about  what  you  do  or  about  what  you  want  to  do.  Try 
to  remember  that  the  Master  looks  into  your  heart  to  see 
the  spirit  in  which  you  are  doing  the  work,  and  pays  much 
less  attention  than  does  the  outside  world  to  the  actual  work 
in  which  you  are  engaged.  Your  circle  of  influence  may  be 
at  first  very  much  restricted,  but  if  you  do  your  duty  within 
that  limited  sphere,  the  Master  will  take  upon  Himself  to 
enlarge  the  circle  and  will  give  you  an  opportunity  of  doing 

95 


His  work  in  a  wider  field.  To  sum  it  all  up :  begin  at  the  be- 
ginning, and  go  on  at  the  beginning  as  long  as  you  may  be 
needed. 

Discrimination  in  Service 

The  Master  then  tells  us  to  try  and  distinguish  between 
the  more  useful  and  the  less  useful.  "To  feed  the  poor," 
He  says  "is  a  good  and  noble  and  useful  work;  yet  to  feed 
their  souls  is  nobler  and  more  useful  than  to  feed  their 
bodies.  Any  rich  man  can  feed  the  body,  but  only  those  who 
know  can  feed  the  soul.  If  you  know,  it  is  your  duty  to  help 
others  to  know." 

These  words  contain  a  very  important  truth.  We,  who 
are  members  of  the  Order  of  the  Star  in  the  East  and  of  the 
Theosophical  Society,  are  supposed  to  be  in  possession  of 
truths  which  will  help  the  world  to  grow  stronger,  more  use- 
ful, and  more  able  to  cope  with  its  difficulties.  There  are 
not  many  of  us  who  possess  these  truths  consciously,  and  the 
greatest  blessing  we  can  offer  the  world  is  to  spread  abroad 
that  which  means  so  much  to  us.  As  the  Master  says,  any 
rich  man  can  feed  the  body.  We  expect  a  man  who  has 
wealth  to  give  his  first  attention  to  the  right  distribution  of 
his  wealth — that  is  his  business.  Those  of  us  who  may  have 
riches  belonging  to  the  spiritual  world  have,  as  our  first  care, 
the  duty  of  distributing  these  spiritual  riches  as  wisely  as  we 
can.  We  are  so  apt  to  become  slaves  to  the  world's  attitude 
toward  things,  and  to  forget  that  though  the  world  may  not 
recognise  the  value  of  our  riches,  we,  at  least,  have  for  our- 
selves and  for  many  of  our  friends,  proved  their  worth. 
Few  Theosophists  may  have  worldly  wealth,  but  all  Theo- 
sophists  have  a  little  spiritual  knowledge.  If  they  cannot 
spread  their  spiritual  knowledge  far  and  wide,  they  prob- 
ably would  not,  were  they  wealthy  people,  give  of  their  riches 
generously. 

Spread  Your  Truth 

People  sometimes  say  to  me:  "I  can  do  so  little.  You  see 
I  have  no  influence.     Money  seems  to  be  everything. ' '     My 

96 


reply  to  them  is:  "What  do  you  know  that  has  helped  you  in 
life's  difficulties?"  The  knowledge  that  has  helped  you  is 
certain  to  help  others.  Many  people  may  not  be  ready  for 
that  knowledge.  For  such,  the  voice  of  the  Theosophist  will 
fall  on  unheeding  ears.  But  there  are  always  some,  some- 
where, who  need  the  truths  we  possess,  and  it  behooves  us  so 
to  spread  these  truths  that  they  may  reach  the  ears  of  those 
to  whom  they  are  necessary. 

I  quite  grant  that  we  can  do  but  little  without  a  certain 
amount  of  material  prosperity.  Money  certainly  does  help, 
and  without  it  life  is  indeed  more  difficult.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  must  give  what  we  can.  If  we  do  this,  then  will 
the  Master  add  to  our  work  the  power  that  money  gives. 
Money  is  always  ready  to  the  hand  of  those  who  will  use  it 
in  the  Master's  service.  And  while  we  all  of  us  have,  from 
time  to  time,  to  know  what  it  is  to  struggle  without  the  help 
of  money,  while  we  have  often  to  see  many  of  our  schemes 
fail  for  want  of  money,  in  the  long  run  perseverance  with 
the  little  we  have  will  bring  to  us  all  kinds  of  help,  including 
financial.  The  run  may  be  a  long  one;  the  length  of  it  de- 
pends, to  a  very  large  extent,  upon  the  training  which  the 
individual  has  to  receive.  It  may  be  necessary  that  he  shall 
go  through  a  long  course  of  poverty  to  see  how  far  the  truths 
he  knows  sustain  him  in  trouble.  But,  as  I  have  said  before, 
he  wins  through  his  experience,  and  no  great  truth  for  which 
some  part  of  the  world  is  ready  can  ever  fail  to  reach  its 
object  because  of  lack  of  money.  It  may  fail  to  reach  its 
object  from  lack  of  capacity,  from  lack  of  enthusiasm, 
from  lack  of  perseverance.  But  once  these  qualities  are  pres- 
ent, all  other  things  shall  be  added. 

So  take  care  of  that  which  you  already  possess,  and 
invest  it  according  to  your  best  knowledge.  No  possession 
is  of  greater  value  than  the  spiritual  knowledge  which  gives 
us  stability,  peace,  confidence,  strength.  All  these  things 
come  to  us  by  building  into  our  characters  the  truths  for 
which  the  Theosophical  Society  and  the  Order  of  the  Star  in 
the  East  stand.    Let  us,  therefore,  make  use  of  these  truths 

97 


in  our  own  daily  life,  and  use  them  in  service  among  all  who 
surround  us.  Life  is  always  more  or  less  hard  and  difficult. 
It  should  be  less  hard  and  less  difficult  to  those  of  us  who  know. 
And  we  should  be  able  to  give  of  that  which  helps  us  to 
courage  to  all  who  have  a  less  sure  source  from  which  to  draw. 
At  the  present  time,  when  the  whole  world  is  in  the 
throes  of  war,  we  must  be  careful  to  see  that  the  knowledge 
we  possess  is  spread  far  and  wide,  we  must  be  careful  to  see 
that  we  live  it  more  truly  than  we  have  ever  lived  it  before, 
and  we  must  be  careful  to  see  that  through  our  example  the 
preaching  of  this  knowledge  may  be  made  more  insistent 
and  attention-compelling.  Personally,  speaking  as  the  Gen- 
eral Secretary  of  the  Theosophical  Society  in  England  and 
Wales,  I  feel  it  to  be  a  special  duty  to  do  all  I  can  to  make 
Theosophy  widely  known,  so  that  those  whom  the  war  has 
caused  to  seek  help  and  peace,  may  be  able  to  find  something 
which  shall  give  them  courage  to  endure.  I  might  have  joined 
the  army,  had  my  physical  health  been  equal  to  the  strain.  But 
the  truths  of  Theosophy  are  everything  to  me,  and  have  pulled 
me  through  many  hard  times.  I  could  have  given  my  body  to 
my  country,  but  I  feel — I  do  not  think  I  shall  be  accused  of 
cowardice  in  saying  so— that  I  would  far  rather  give  my 
soul.  That  which  has  given  me  strength  I  must  give  to 
those  around  me  who  are  in  need  of  strength.  The  world 
may  call  this  conceit,  but  it  is  the  principle  of  my  life,  and  I 
should  feel  untrue  to  my  higher  self  were  I  not,  in  such  a 
crisis  as  this,  to  spread  in  the  most  helpful  manner  possible, 
truths  for  which  the  world  is  looking,  and  without  which  the 
world  can  make  but  little  progress.  I  quite  agree  that  the 
majority  of  the  youth  of  the  country  owe  their  bodies  to 
the  nation,  for  the  war  is  being  partly  fought  with  bodies, 
but  I  am  equally  convinced  of  the  truth  underlying  the 
letter  of  Lord  Derby  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in 
which  he  agreed  as  to  the  need  of  service  to  the  country  of 
the  ministers  of  religion.  If  a  man  shirks  the  gift  of  his 
body,  how  shall  he  offer  the  gift  of  his  soul.  For  the  soul  is 
a  far  greater  gift  than  ever  the  body  could  be.    Yet,  if  a  man 

98 


feels  himself  to  be  a  channel  for  the  Master's  force,  and 
every  minister  of  the  Church  should  feel  this,  then  he  can 
ordinarily  do  his  best  work  by  leading  a  life  of  special 
purity  so  as  to  become  an  ever-deepening  channel  through 
which  the  Master's  strength  and  blessing  may  pass  untainted. 

How  Shall  We  Serve? 

The  question  as  to  what  you  ought  to  do  depends,  there- 
fore, upon  the  position  which  you  occupy.  It  is,  indeed,  the 
duty  of  most  to  set  an  example  to  those  around  them,  and  this 
often  involves  the  putting  aside  of  occupations  you  like  for 
the  sake  of  duties  you  owe.  I  have  often  and  often  thought 
over  this  question  with  regard  to  my  own  special  circum- 
stances, and  I  have  come  to  the  very  definite  conclusion  that 
as  long  as  I  can  give  the  best  of  myself  to  my  fellow-country- 
men, and  as  long  as  I  can  maintain  the  highest  standard  of 
living  within  my  power,  for  so  long  it  is  my  duty  to  make  as 
many  useful  channels  as  I  can  through  which  our  Theo- 
sophical  movement  may  spread  its  message.  The  world  may 
not  agree  with  me,  but  when  I  am  making  big  decisions  I 
strive  for  the  time  to  live  in  the  Master's  world,  and  to  make 
my  decisions  from  that  standpoint.  With  the  pressure  of 
public  opinion  around  one,  and  with  the  strong  thought 
forms  which  press  upon  one  from  all  sides,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  keep  clear  the  memory  of  that  temporary  life  in  the 
Master's  world.  But  I  strongly  feel  the  truth  of  those  words 
of  Shakespeare 's :  * '  To  thine  own  self  be  true  and  it  must  fol- 
low as  the  night  the  day,  thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any 
man."  Men  may  think  you  false,  but  that  is  a  far  different 
matter  from  actually  being  so.  I  quite  admit  that  people 
often  suffer  their  own  inclinations,  their  own  weaknesses,  to 
enter  into  their  judgments.  They  try  to  reconcile  desire  with 
duty,  and  then  seek  to  persuade  themselves  that  it  is  duty 
which  is  moving  them  and  not  desire.  The  question  is  one 
between  a  man  and  his  conscience,  and  when  once  one's  con- 
science is  clear,  one  is  bound  to  have  adequate  strength  to 
meet  any  difficulties  which  such  a  judgment  may  entail. 


99 


CHAPTEE    X 
SEKVICE  AS  EDUCATION 

The  Master  remarks  that:  "However  wise  you  may  be 
already,  on  this  Path  you  have  much  to  learn;  so  much  that 
here  also  there  must  be  discrimination,  and  you  must  think 
carefully  what  is  worth  learning."  He  answers  the  thought 
by  telling  us  that  we  must  study,  because  ' '  God  is  Wisdom  as 
well  as  Love,"  and  that  we  must  study  especially  that  which 
will  most  help  us  to  help  others. 

This  statement  of  the  Master  seems  to  me  to  be  at  the 
basis  of  all  true  education,  for  I  myself  hold  strongly  that 
no  education  can  be  regarded  as  satisfactory  which  does  not 
include  within  it  the  service  of  other  people.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  the  great  object  of  education  is  first  to  make  a  child 
happy  in  his  child-life,  and  then  to  give  him  useful  know- 
ledge. As  a  matter  of  fact,  happiness,  knowledge  and  ser- 
vice are,  in  reality,  so  far  as  the  Master's  world  is  concerned, 
interchangeable  terms.  No  boy  or  girl  is  truly  happy  unless 
he  begins,  even  while  young,  to  transmute  his  knowledge  into 
service.  In  many  of  the  more  advanced  schools  this  truth  is 
well  understood,  but,  on  the  whole,  educational  authorities  are 
far  too  much  occupied  with  conventional  method  and  subject 
matter,  and  pay  far  too  little  attention  to  the  choice  of  method 
and  subject  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  way  in  which  the 
child  may  easily  make  use  of  the  knowledge  he  daily  gains  in 
school  for  the  helping  of  those  less  advanced  than  himself. 
In  the  Central  Hindu  College  at  Benares  it  was  always  our 
habit  to  encourage  every  single  student  not  only  to  study 
but  to  serve,  and,  indeed,  we  found  it  to  be  true  that  any 
boy  who  lacked  capacity  along  any  special  line  could  very 
considerably  decrease  his  ignorance  by  trying  to  help  along 
that  line  some  one  who  knew  even  less  than  he  did.  There  is 
no  better  way  of  growing  oneself  than  endeavouring  to  make 
oneself  useful  to  one's  surroundings;  and  in  helping  other 
people  we  increase  our  own  capacity  to  learn. 

100 


Unfortunately  under  modern,  'conditions ..-we*  fae  very 
often  face  to  face  with  the  statement  that  young  people  must 
not  be  distracted  from  their  studies;  that  their  time  for  ser- 
vice is  not  yet ;  that  they  have  enough  to  do  in  learning  with- 
out going  into  the  outside  world.  With  such  statements  I 
entirely  disagree.  I  do  not  think  that  children  are  nearly  as 
happy  as  they  ought  to  be,  nor  is  the  world  nearly  as  joyous 
a  place  to  live  in  as  it  should  be.  There  may  be  many  rea- 
sons for  this,  but  at  least  one  of  the  reasons  is  that  the  child 
does  not  bring  into  the  outer  world  the  joyous  childish  nature 
that  the  world  needs,  and  I  long  for  the  time  when  part  of  a 
child's  school  life  shall  consist  in  moving  among  his  sur- 
roundings, bringing  to  them  the  song  that  children  alone  can 
sing.  I  do  not,  for  a  moment,  suggest  that  children  should 
take  an  active  part  in  politics,  or  in  the  discussion  of  social 
questions.  But  I  do  say,  most  emphatically,  that  there  are 
very  definite  acts  of  service  which  children  alone  can  per- 
form, and  which  are  very  much  needed  both  by  the  elder  gen- 
eration, and  by  the  young  themselves. 


Two  Kinds  of  Study 


The  child,  therefore,  has  two  kinds  of  study  to  under- 
take: (1)  that  which  vitalises  and  makes  sensitive  his  mind, 
and  (2)  that  which  enables  him  to  be  immediately  of  use  in 
his  own  way.  There  are  many  subjects  to  study;  much  he 
needs  to  know;  partly  because  these  things  will  be  definitely 
useful  to  him  in  after  life,  partly  because  they  give  the  mind  a 
certain  tone,  partly  because  they  give  the  mind  a  certain  disci- 
pline, and  partly  because  they  bring  him,  through  the  mind, 
into  touch  with  the  world,  past,  present  and  future.  And, 
on  the  same  lines,  training  must  be  given  both  to  the  physi- 
cal and  emotional  bodies.  With  these,  for  the  moment,  we 
are  not  concerned.  He  must  also  be  taught  to  study  his 
actual  place  in  the  world  in  which  he  lives — that  which  the 
world  brings  to  him,  and  that  which  he  exists,  even  as  a  child, 
to  offer  to  the  world.    He  has  his  definite  note  to  strike  in  the 


101 


world's  ii&rmony,  as  mush  when  a  child  as  when  he  is  grown 
up.  The  child,  therefore,"  who  is  not  encouraged  to  turn  his 
study  into  service  cannot  be  truly  happy.  For  one  of  the 
conditions  of  growth  is  that  we  gradually  find  that  the  less 
our  selfishness  is  narrow,  the  more  our  happiness  grows  per- 
manent. Children  soon  get  tired  of  most  of  their  toys,  and 
many  parents  are  distracted  at  the  thought  of  how  they  are 
going  to  occupy  their  young  people  from  day  to  day  when 
studies  are  over.  It  is  a  part  of  a  child's  nature  that  he 
should,  from  time  to  time,  get  into  mischief — this  is  but  the 
result  of  that  groping  which  leads  us  all  to  covet  experience 
of  one  kind  or  another.  The  child  would  get  into  mischief 
much  less,  however,  if  he  could  be  made  to  realise  that  he  has 
a  power  in  himself  which  he  can  make  use  of  if  he  likes — the 
power  to  join  himself  to  others,  and  so  to  gain  a  more  satis- 
fying kind  of  happiness  than  if  he  were  to  live  for  himself 
alone.  I  consider,  therefore,  that  every  boy  and  girl  who 
goes  to  school,  or  who  goes  to  a  University,  should  combine 
study  with  service  of  one  kind  or  another.  I  consider  all 
education  one-sided  which  does  not  provide  for  each  student 
an  appropriate  service. 

The  Primary  Principle 

The  Master  lays  down  the  primary  principle  upon  which 
all  study  and  service  must  be  based.  He  says:  "You  must 
learn  to  be  true  all  through,  in  thought  and  word,  and  deed. ' ' 
He  thus  emphasises  that  the  world  is  built  upon  a  foundation 
of  truth,  and  He  shows  us  that  this  is  the  first  lesson  every 
one  of  us  has  to  learn,  whether  in  school  or  out  of  it.  Truth, 
indeed,  is  the  basis  of  all  growth,  and  the  rate  at  which  we 
grow  depends  upon  the  extent  to  which  we  allow  truth  to 
permeate  our  thoughts,  our  words,  our  actions.  All  in  the 
world  that  is  bad,  impure,  wrong,  unhappy,  is  in  reality, 
untrue.  This  is  to  say,  it  is  all  a  distortion  of  the  true — the 
force  of  truth  has  been  mis-applied.  Absence  of  knowledge 
is  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble  in  the  world,  and  the  world 
needs,   above   all  things,  that  truth — which  is  the   same   as 

102 


knowledge — should  be  spread  far  and  wide,  in  forms  suited 
to  the  varying  understandings  of  the  different  stages  of  evo- 
lution to  which  the  peoples  of  the  world  belong.  The  Master 
tells  us  how  we  are  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  and  He  says  that 
we  must  not  believe  that  a  thing  is  true  because  many  other 
people  hold  it  to  be  true,  nor  because  it  has  been  believed  for 
centuries,  nor  because  it  is  written  in  some  book  which  man 
thinks  sacred.  He  tells  us  that  we  must  think  things  out  for 
ourselves,  and  judge  for  ourselves.  '*He  who  would  walk 
upon  the  Path  must  learn  to  think  for  himself,  for  supersti- 
tion is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  in  the  world,  one  of  the  fet- 
ters from  which  you  must  utterly  free  yourself.' ' 

Form  is  not  Reality 

That  is  why  it  is  so  important  to  have  as  teachers  people 
who  have  a  certain  amount  of  real  knowledge,  and  who  are 
as  free  from  prejudice  as  possible.  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
suggest  that  forms  are  not  valuable,  and  during  childhood 
there  are  many  forms  with  which  children  are  to  be  associ- 
ated. But  the  teacher  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  forms  are  but  forms,  no  matter  how  beautiful  the  forms 
may  be,  and  that  the  existence  of  the  form  depends  upon  the 
reality  within.  Young  people  are  so  much  brought  up  to  be- 
lieve that  the  forms  which  surround  them  are  the  only  forms 
of  any  real  value  that,  either  they  rebel  against  them,  or  they 
become  dwarfed  by  them.  In  either  case  mischief  has  been 
done,  and  suffering  inevitably  follows  any  belief  that  form  is 
reality.  We  must  try,  therefore,  to  consider  all  forms  as 
sign-posts  pointing  to  the  reality  which  they  enclose.  In  the 
early  stages  of  child  life,  the  form  attracts  most,  and  we  can- 
not expect  any  considerable  effort  to  look  through  the  form 
into  the  reality  beyond.  But,  as  education  proceeds,  forms 
become  increasingly  insignificant,  and  should  serve  but  to 
emphasise  the  beauty  of  an  underlying  unity  which  can  find 
expression  in  so  much  apparent  diversity.  We  all  of  us,  there- 
fore, have  to  see  how  much  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  conventional 
habits  of  thought.    It  is,  of  course,  the  reverse  of  sensible  to 

103 


disbelieve  simply  because  a  large  number  of  people  believe, 
though  that  is  the  attitude  of  many  otherwise  independent 
thinkers.  We  must  be  continually  on  the  alert  to  see  that  we 
do  not  unconsciously  drift,  either  with  our  surroundings  or 
with  the  general  current  of  thought  along  which  our  nation, 
or  the  world  as  a  whole,  is  drifting.  Those  who  would  serve 
the  Master  must  learn  to  think  for  themselves,  and  this  in- 
volves a  very  searching  analysis  of  the  motives  which  precede 
our  thought,  our  words,  our  deeds. 

Causes  of  Misunderstanding 

The  Master  then  remarks  that  we  must  not  think  of 
other  people  what  we  do  not  know.  This  is,  of  course,  one 
of  the  most  difficult  lessons  to  learn,  and  one  of  the  most 
valuable  acts  of  service  which  both  young  and  old  can  offer 
in  helpfulness  to  others.  We  are  all  of  us  far  too  prone  to 
imagine,  and  then  to  treat  the  imagination  as  if  it  were  know- 
ledge. Much  of  the  ill-feeling  which  exists  among  people 
is  simply  because  they  often  think  that  which  they  do  not 
know,  and  which  frequently  turns  out  to  be  untrue.  A  per- 
sonal talk  with  someone,  whom  one  imagines  to  be  in  opposi- 
tion to  one,  frequently  removes  the  misunderstanding.  In- 
deed, most  people  are  much  more  antagonistic  away  from 
their  objects  of  disapproval  than  when  they  come  face  to 
face.  As  a  general  rule,  when  two  people  come  together,  a 
very  slight  effort  is  always  made  by  the  underlying  Unity  to 
assert  itself,  and  with  the  good-will  this  little  effort  often 
overcomes  the  misunderstanding  wThich  has  been  largely 
born  of  distance  and  ignorance. 

Then,  again,  there  is  in  most  people  a  very  definite  ten- 
dency to  exaggeration,  and  this  also  causes  much  misunder- 
standing and  difficulty.  As  the  Master  observes,  we  often 
imagine  that  people  are  thinking  of  us:  " If  a  man  does 
something  which  you  think  will  harm  you,  or  says  something 
which  you  think  applies  to  you,  do  not  think  at  once,  'he 
meant  to  injure  me.'  "  Nothing  is  more  true  than  the  fact 
that  each  soul  has  its  own  troubles,  and  that  its  thoughts  turn 

104 


chiefly  around  itself.  Our  attitude  towards  others  very 
largely  depends  on  the  way  we  ourselves  are  getting  on  in 
the  world  at  the  moment — on  the  state  of  our  physical  health, 
on  the  hopes  we  have  for  the  future,  on  our  memories  of  the 
past.  Generally  speaking,  it  is  not  so  much  what  someone 
else  does  that  matters,  as  the  relation  of  that  action  to  the 
little  world  in  which  we  live.  A  little  matter  which  I  thought 
nothing  of  yesterday,  I  may  today  regard  as  of  essential  im- 
portance because  toothache  has  entered  my  little  world,  and  has 
upset  my  nerves.  All  kinds  of  apparently  trivial  conditions 
may  combine  to  make  us  take  a  very  uncharitable  view  of  the 
actions  of  other  people.  Mrs.  Besant  has  often  told  us  that  to 
feel  hurt  is  a  condition  of  selfishness,  because  our  business  is 
what  we  ourselves  do,  and  not  the  attitude  of  others  towards  us. 
This  is  a  hard  lesson  to  learn,  because  in  the  past  we 
have  so  much  depended  upon  the  world  outside  us.  If  we 
would  become  pupils  of  a  Master  we  must  become  far  more 
positive  in  character,  and  make  our  condition  depend  upon 
what  we  give  out  rather  than  upon  what  we  take  in.  I  often 
think  that  the  lives  of  clerks  in  the  city  depend  far  more 
upon  what  happens  to  their  employers  in  the  domesticity  of 
home  than  upon  the  carelessness  or  cleverness  with  which 
they  attend  to  their  employers'  business.  An  employer  finds 
that  his  morning  egg  is  rotten,  has  a  few  words  with  his  wife, 
is  disturbed  by  the  boisterousness  of  his  children,  could  not 
find  his  collar  stud  while  dressing,  lost  his  favourite  train, 
found  his  favourite  seat  occupied  by  someone  else,  and  the 
result  is  that  the  office  becomes  unbearable,  and  everything 
his  subordinates  do  is  wrong.  The  subordinates  may  imagine 
that  their  employer  dislikes  them,  or  has  some  grudge  against 
them,  whereas  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  whole  mis- 
chief began  with  the  loss  of  that  collar  stud!  I  do  not,  for 
a  moment,  wish  to  suggest  that  this  is  always  the  case,  but  it 
very  often  is.  As  the  Master  observes:  "Probably  some  one 
or  something  else  has  made  him  angry,  and  because  he  hap- 
pens to  meet  you  he  turns  his  anger  upon  you.  He  is  acting 
foolishly,  for  all  anger  is  foolish,  but  you  must  not  therefore 
think  untruly  of  him." 

105 


CHAPTER    XI 

DISCRIMINATION 

The  Master  proceeds  to  explain  that  when  you  become  a 
pupil  of  one  of  the  great  Masters  "you  may  always  try  the 
truth  of  your  thought  by  laying  it  beside  His."  He  explains 
that  the  pupil  is  one  with  the  Master,  and  only  needs  to  put 
back  his  thought  into  the  Master's  to  see  at  once  whether  it 
agrees.  This  remark  obviously  does  not  apply  to  pupils  yet 
on  probation,  but  only  to  those  whose  consciousness  is  in  some 
wonderful  way  blended  with  that  of  their  Master.  Many 
people  have  said  to  me  that  they  cannot  understand  how 
this  laying  of  the  thought  beside  that  of  the  Master  can  be  ac- 
complished. The  only  explanation  I  can  think  of  is  that  the 
pupil  who  is  accepted  by  the  Master  may  always  listen,  if 
he  will,  to  the  great  harmony  which  the  Master  sends  forth 
into  the  world.  Any  thought  the  pupil  has  either  harmonises 
with  the  Master's  harmony,  or  is  a  discord,  and  in  this  way 
the  pupil  somehow  feels  whether  his  thought  is  true  or  not. 
If  it  is  true  it  gives  him  a  sense  of  fuller  life  and  causes  him, 
as  it  were,  to  glow  throughout  his  being.  If  the  thought  is 
not  true,  it  gives  him  a  sense  of  discomfort  and  of  being  ill 
at  ease.  He  feels,  in  some  way,  out  of  tune  with  things,  and 
intuitively  knows  that  he  is  not  as  genuine  as  he  ought  to  be. 
Probably  most  people  have  this  feeling  in  greater  or  lesser 
degree.  At  a  certain  stage  when  conscience  becomes  active 
we  know  in  a  general  way  what  thoughts  are  constructive  and 
what  thoughts  are  destructive  in  our  nature.  We  have  cer- 
tain ideals  and  we  know,  at  least,  whether  we  are,  on  the 
whole,  living  up  to  these  ideals  or  not.  Indeed  such  people 
may  always  ask  the  question :  * '  What  would  the  Master  think 
about  this?  What  would  the  Master  say  or  do  under  these 
circumstances  V '     But  the   pupil   of  the  Masters  has  these 

106 


feelings  with  very  much  greater  intensity,  and  the  only  way 
in  which  I  can  describe  the  difference  between  the  thought 
which  harmonises  and  the  thought  which  does  not  is  by  tell- 
ing you  that  the  former  gives  a  sense  of  freshness  and  clear- 
ness, while  the  latter  causes  a  clouded  and  uncomfortable 
sensation.  It  is  of  course  possible  to  be  so  immersed  in  one's 
thoughts  and  actions  as  to  shut  oneself  off  from  the  Master's 
consciousness,  and  very  often  thoughtlessly  think  or  do  or 
feel  things  which  do  not  make  us  feel  nearly  as  uncomfortable 
as  they  ought  to  do,  because  we  do  not  take  the  trouble  to 
test  them  in  the  light  of  the  Master's  consciousness.  We 
identify  ourselves  so  entirely  with  the  lower  planes  of  Nature 
that  we  cannot  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  spirit,  and  it  very 
often  happens  that  we  go  through  a  whole  series  of  wrong 
thoughts  or  feelings  or  actions  before  awakening  to  the  fact 
that  we  have  made  a  mistake.  Especially  in  times  like  the 
present,  when  the  great  world  crisis  concentrates  our  energy 
so  very  much  in  purely  worldly  activities,  there  is  a  danger 
of  forgetting  that  it  is  the  Great  Teachers  who  order  the 
destinies  of  Nations  and  who  will  guide  their  peoples  to 
right  action. 

Live  in  Your  Ideals 

We  cannot  expect,  therefore  that  the  ordinary  individual 
will  be  able  continually  to  think  what  the  Master  would  think, 
or  say,  or  do  under  such  and  such  circumstances.  But  anyone 
who  has  a  definite  link  with  his  Teacher  ought  to  be  able  con- 
stantly to  hear  the  harmony  of  his  Master's  life,  and  so  al- 
most automatically  to  accept  this,  and  to  reject  that,  thought 
or  action  which  may  come  to  him  in  the  course  of  his  daily 
life.  As  a  piece  of  general  advice  I  would  urge  students  to 
live,  just  at  present  especially,  as  much  in  their  ideals  as 
possible,  so  as  to  allow  these  ideals  to  become  as  dominant  as 
may  be.  The  ideal  may  be  a  great  Teacher  or  a  great  prin- 
ciple, but  now  is  the  time  to  keep  it  strongly  in  mind,  and  to 
prevent  all  attacks  upon  it  from  becoming  successful.  At 
the  present  time  we  are  at  the  stage  of  a  conflict  between 

107 


ideals  and  worn-out  forms,  between  the  New  Age  and  the  Old, 
and  our  ideals  are  therefore  specially  susceptible  of  attack 
because  the  Old  wishes  to  remain  in  possession,  and  strives  to 
kill  that  which  would  take  its  place.  In  some  ways  at  the 
present  time  it  is  easier  to  have  ideals  because  the  dawn  of  the 
New  Age  stimulates  them  prematurely.  On  the  other  hand 
it  is  easier  also  to  abandon  ideals  and  to  accept  the  worn-out 
conventionalities  and  general  world  conditions. 

Towards  Leadership 

There  is  always  a  temptation  to  move  slowly  with  the 
majority  rather  than  to  lead  with  the  few.  Leadership  is 
hard  work  and  involves  not  only  much  sacrifice,  but  also  much 
sorrow  and  disappointment.  It  involves  also  the  ridicule, 
contempt  and  disapproval  of  your  ordinary  surroundings. 
Do  not  imagine  for  a  moment  that  any  leader  the  world  has 
ever  produced  has  gone  through  life  to  the  plaudits  of  his 
fellow  men.  We  may  not,  at  present,  be  ready  for  leadership, 
but  now  is  the  time  to  make  a  beginning,  and  the  making  of 
a  beginning  consists  in  trying  to  understand  what  your  ideals 
are,  and  to  adhere  firmly  to  them.  That  is  the  first  stage  to- 
wards leadership,  for  the  Master  does  not  need  among  His 
pupils  any  who  are  not  ready  for  leadership  or  who  are  not, 
at  least,  ready  for  that  training  which  shall  lead  to  leadership. 
The  preliminary  stage  is  always  to  learn  to  stand  on  your  own 
feet;  to  give  such  help  as  you  can  to  others,  and  to  ask  as 
little  as  you  can  from  them.  It  is  good  that  others  should 
help  you,  but  it  is  your  business  to  do  without  such  help  as 
much  as  you  can.  I  do  not  suggest  that  the  help,  if  offered, 
should  be  rejected.  It  is  as  blessed  to  receive  as  it  is  to  give, 
and  the  blessing  comes  both  to  the  receiver  as  well  as  to  the 
one  who  gives.  But  what  I  wish  to  lay  stress  on  is  that  we 
must  not  depend  on  the  help  of  others,  because  our  task  in 
life  is  to  help  others  who  still  need  to  depend  upon  the 
strength  they  may  be  able  to  get  from  the  outside.  The  way 
in  which  this  works  out  in  practice  is  more  a  subject  for  psy- 

108 


chology  than  for  these  elementary  papers  on  At  the  Feet  of 
the  Master.  Nothing  is  more  complicated  than  progress  on 
the  Path.  I  only  wish  to  indicate  here  a  few  general  princi- 
ples, so  that  these  may  be  known  and  studied.  Each  of  them 
will  work  out  differently  in  different  people  according  to 
their  respective  temperaments,  but  the  principle  remains  the 
same  in  all  cases. 

Dangers  of  Exaggeration 

I  do  not  suppose  that  it  is  possible  for  any  of  us  to  prac- 
tice perfectly  the  Master's  statement  "You  must  never  do 
or  say  or  think  what  you  cannot  imagine  the  Master  as  doing 
or  saying  or  thinking. "  He  places  that  as  an  ideal  and  asks 
you  to  work  towards  it  as  earnestly  as  you  can.  It  takes  a 
long  time  to  get  one's  various  bodies  in  order,  and  no  one 
should  be  despondent  either  because  he  cannot  bring  order  out 
of  chaos  all  at  once,  or  because  he  often  fails.  I  have  never 
yet  heard  that  the  Master  condemns  failure,  but  I  do  know 
that  He  expects  one  to  go  on  trying,  however  often  we  fail. 

"We  are  then  told  of  various  ways  in  which  we  must  try 
to  harmonise  our  own  lives  with  those  of  the  great  Teachers. 
We  are  told  to  be  true  in  speech — accurate  without  exaggera- 
tion. Exaggeration  is  a  most  common  fault  among  us  all, 
specially  among  those  of  a  highly  imaginative  temperament. 
We  do  not  exaggerate  because  we  are  wilfully  desirous  of  per- 
verting the  truth,  but  because  our  astral  bodies  like  violent  vi- 
brations, and  because  we  like  to  create  a  definite  effect  upon 
our  surroundings.  Facts  as  they  are  might  not  have  the  effect 
either  of  stimulating  the  astral  body,  or  of  arresting  the  at- 
tention of  our  surroundings.  When  they  do  not  have  this 
effect  we  intensify  them  so  as  to  get  the  result  we  want.  The 
effect  is  to  acquire  a  loose  habit  of  thinking,  of  feeling, 
and  speaking,  and  sooner  or  later  people  will  cease  to  trust 
us  and  so  our  power  of  usefulness  in  the  world  will  be  con- 
siderably diminished,  and  we  shall  be  further  from,  and  not 
nearer  to,  the  Master's  service.    In  the  pain  produced  by  hav- 

109 


ing  great  eagerness  to  help,  and  at  the  same  time  being  power- 
less to  help,  we  shall  learn  how  to  help  without  exaggerating, 
or  in  any  other  way  causing  things  to  appear  that  which,  in 
reality,  they  are  not.  Many  people  complain  that  their  cir- 
cumstances interfere  so  seriously  with  their  eagerness  to  be 
of  service.  One  of  the  causes  of  this  may  be  that  in  the  past 
they  have  not  used  truthfully  the  powers  they  then  had.  So 
they  have  to  learn  in  the  present  life  what  it  is  to  have  eager- 
ness, and  yet  be  shut  off  from  its  application. 

We  are  told  not  to  attribute  motives  to  another,  which, 
again,  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  our  faults.  We  see  the  act 
or  the  thought  or  the  feeling  and  we  immediately  interpret 
the  cause.  My  own  experience  has  been  that  most  people  act 
from  reasons  that  never  enter  one's  mind  when  one  is  criti- 
cising them.  In  my  own  case  I  know  to  how  small  an  extent 
people  really  know  the  motives  which  underlie  my  actions,  and 
I  must  assume  that  that  is  true  of  other  people  as  well.  People 
have  their  own  troubles  and  sorrows  and  griefs,  and  very 
often  they  act  under  the  influence  of  these  troubles  and  sor- 
rows or  griefs,  although  the  action  itself,  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  outsider,  cannot  have  any  possible  connection 
with  them.  The  -greater  the  leader,  the  more  he  interprets 
kindly  the  attitude  of  other  people  to  him.  I  have  often  won- 
dered why  Mrs.  Besant  allowed  herself  so  often  to  be  de- 
ceived, when  she  must  surely  have  known  that  those  who  were 
deceiving  her  were  doing  so  from  evil  motives,  but  I  believe 
that  at  a  certain  stage  you  can  only  think  in  a  kindly  way 
about  people,  and  while  it  is  true  that  you  may  in  some  ways 
be  more  easily  deceived,  yet  because  your  thoughts  are 
thoughts  of  goodwill  the  deceit  recoils  upon  the  deceiver  and 
earns  for  him  a  terrible  lesson.  Moreover  by  thus  generating 
a  continuous  stream  of  goodwill  you  acquire  a  power  that 
somehow  or  other  prevents  people  acting  towards  you  as  they 
might  were  you  less  pure  of  heart,  and  it  is  clear  that  your 
capacity  for  serving  the  Master  is  immensely  increased  by  a 
purity  of  thought  which  no  adverse  external  circumstances 
can  besmirch. 

110 


One  of  the  most  valuable  pieces  of  advice  given  in  At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master  is:  "If  you  hear  a  story  against  anyone, 
do  not  repeat  it;  it  may  not  be  true  and  even  if  it  is,  it  is 
kinder  to  say  nothing/'  The  human  race  seems  to  have  a 
special  penchant  for  repeating  stories  about  other  people,  and 
I  imagine  that  half,  at  least,  of  the  world's  sorrows  and 
troubles  are  caused  by  this  pernicious  habit  of  exaggeration, 
which  is  due  to  lack  of  power  of  controlling  our  various 
bodies,  which  are  always  craving  for  excitement  of  some  kind. 

We  are  told  also  "td  think  well  before  speaking  lest  you 
fall  into  inaccuracy. ' '  We  are  far  too  impetuous  and  im- 
pulsive both  in  speech  and  action,  and  if  we  could  be  a  little 
calmer,  more  contemplative,  more  self-controlled,  we  should 
speak  more  deliberately  and  with  a  greater  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. But  many  of  us,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  like  butter- 
flies, flying  hither  and  thither  and  caring  little  about  the  re- 
sult of  speech  or  feeling  or  action,  provided  we  enjoy  them 
at  the  time.  We  are  too  prone  to  imagine  that  the  future  can 
take  care  of  itself,  but  when  the  future  comes  we  often  wish 
that  we  had  paid  a  little  more  attention  beforehand  to  its 
construction. 

Imagination  versus  Pretence 

Then,  again,  we  must  avoid  pretending  to  be  that  which 
we  are  not.  This  is  a  most  difficult  matter  for  many  people. 
We  are  often  in  the  habit  of  pretending  in  order  to  create  an 
effect,  in  order  to  induce  other  people  to  give  us  more  at- 
tention and  respect  than  that  to  which  we  are,  from  our  con- 
dition, entitled.  If  only  people  would  realise  that  the  more 
natural  they  are  the  more  effective  and  useful  they  must 
necessarily  be.  Sooner  or  later  people  cannot  help  seeing 
through  pretence,  and  then  the  castle  which  you  have  been 
at  such  pains  to  build  up  dissolves  into  thin  air.  You  are 
left  in  your  nakedness  and  the  world  turns  away  from  you. 
Many  people  try  to  induce  others  to  believe  that  they  have 
powers  which  they  do  not  possess,  and  then  of  course  begins 

111 


a  series  of  deceptions  which  some  day  overwhelm  them.  On 
the  other  hand  I  do  not  think  it  is  a  mistake  for  people  to 
imagine  themselves  sometimes  as  they  hope  to  be  in  the  fu- 
ture, provided  they  do  not  allow  this  imagination  to  deceive 
others.  If  you  can  imagine  yourself  to  be  more  kindly  than 
you  are,  and  if  you  try  to  make  that  imagination  a  fact  in  the 
outer  world,  then  the  imagination  may  be  valuable.  If  you 
imagine  yourself  to  be  truthful  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
you  are  untruthful,  then  your  imagination  if  carried  out  into 
practice  as  far  as  you  are  able,  will  help  to  stimulate  in  you 
the  growth  of  truth.  If  you  imagine  yourself  to  be  purer 
than  you  normally  are,  and  if  you  make  this  imagination 
a  kind  of  embodied  reminder  to  you  of  the  need  of  purity, 
then  you  are  likely  to  grow  in  this  respect.  Imagination  of 
this  kind  is  far  different  from  the  pretence  of  which 
the  Master  speaks,  for  it  is  a  clearing  away  of  the  obstruction 
between  the  outer  world  and  the  light  of  your  soul,  while 
pretence  is  an  effort  to  deceive  the  world  into  believing  that 
your  nature  is  better  than  you  are  actually  trying  to  make  it. 
It  is  good  that  your  friends  should  think  well  of  you,  that 
they  should  think  better  of  you  than  you  deserve,  but  you 
must  not  yourself  try  to  deceive  them.  If  they  think  that 
you  are  really  better  than  you  are,  it  may  not  be  necessarily 
wise  for  you  to  disillusion  them,  but  at  least  you  must  try  to 
live  up  to  the  standard  which  they  have  created  for  you.  A 
leader  is  very  often  much  greater  in  the  eyes  of  his  followers 
than  in  reality,  and  may  feel,  therefore,  almost  as  if  he  were 
deceiving  his  followers,  and  that  he  ought  to  make  them  un- 
derstand that  he  is  far  more  ordinary  than  they  think.  I  do 
not  think  he  is  at  all  bound  to  take  this  course,  partly  because 
it  would  not  help  his  followers  at  all,  and  partly  because  if 
he  is  a  true  leader  he  is  striving  day  by  day  to  rise  to  the 
needs  of  his  followers,  and  to  the  ideal  which  he  is  to  them. 
Apart  from  this,  remember  the  Master's  words:  "All  pre- 
tence is  a  hindrance  to  the  pure  light  of  truth,  which  should 
shine  through  you  as  sunlight  shines  through  clear  glass. ' ' 


112 


The  Good  in  All 

Two  more  points  are  emphasised.  One,  that  we  must 
learn  to  distinguish  between  the  selfish  and  the  unselfish,  and 
the  second  that  we  must  learn  gradually  to  realise  that  good 
is  in  everyone  and  everything,  "no  matter  how  evil  he  or  it 
may  appear  on  the  surface.' '  "Selfishness/'  says  the  Master, 
"has  many  forms,  and  when  you  think  you  have  finally  killed 
it  in  one  of  them,  it  arises  in  another  as  strongly  as  ever." 
The  only  way  to  get  rid  of  selfishness  is  to  concentrate  your 
thoughts  or  feelings,  or  your  actions,  on  the  service  of  other 
people,  then  you  will  have  no  room  for  selfishness.  Selfish- 
ness only  arises  when  we  think  too  much  of  our  small  selves, 
and  too  little  of  those  larger  selves  to  which  others  too  belong. 

Finally,  let  me  quote  that  beautiful  passage  which  con- 
cludes the  Master's  observations  on  discrimination:  "You 
can  help  your  brother  through  that  which  you  have  in  com- 
mon with  him,  and  that  is  the  Divine  Life;  learn  how  to 
arouse  that  in  him,  learn  how  to  appeal  to  that  in  him;  so 
shall  you  save  your  brother  from  wrong."  It  is  essential  that 
we  should  realise  that  we  are  not  apart  from  the  sinner  any 
more  than  we  are  apart  from  the  saint.  Mrs.  Besant  has  often 
laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  while  we  are  very  eager  to  claim 
unity  with  the  saint,  we  are  far  less  eager  to  claim  unity  with 
the  sinner.  Sinners  and  saints  share  a  common  life,  and  are 
striving  towards  a  common  goal,  and  the  condition  of  our 
gaining  strength  and  help  from  the  saint  is  that  of  giving 
strength  and  help  to  the  so-called  sinner.  After  all  the  sinner 
is  merely  ignorant,  and  we  ought  to  know  by  this  time  how 
ignorant  we  ourselves  are.  We  are  all  sinners  in  some 
degree,  and  we  are  all  thankful  for  whatever  help  we 
can  get.  Let  us  earn  the  help  from  others  above  us  by  cheer- 
fully and  thankfully  giving  help  and  strength  to  others  less 
evolved  than  ourselves. 


113 


CHAPTEE   XII 

DESIRELESSNESS 

We  have  now  come  to  the  second  of  the  great  qualifica- 
tions given  by  the  Master — that  of  Desirelessness,  and  at  the 
outset  of  His  remarks  He  points  out  that  people  feel  that  they 
are  their  desires.  I  suppose  that  this  feeling  of  unity  is  part 
of  growth,  for  unless  we  have  it  we  do  not  fully 
understand  the  desire  with  which  we  identify  ourselves.  We 
are  all  made  up  of  our  likings  and  dislikings,  and  so 
much  are  these  part  of  our  daily  life  that  we  feel  that  if  these 
were  taken  away  "there  will  be  no  self  left."  As  we  pass 
through  the  portal  of  death  into  the  intermediate  stages  which 
precede  rebirth  we  are  taught  that  these  desires  and  likings 
and  dislikings  are  not  really  part  of  ourselves,  for  we  learn 
that  only  by  withdrawing  from  them  can  we  reach  the  higher 
regions  of  the  heaven  world.  But  we  need  not  wait  until 
death  for  the  lesson  as  to  the  need  for  desirelessness.  Alcyone 
remarks — for  it  is  he  who  speaks  in  this  sentence,  not  the 
Master — those  who  think  there  will  be  no  self  left  if  their  de- 
sires are  taken  away  "are  only  they  who  have  not  seen  the 
Master ;  in  the  light  of  His  holy  Presence  all  desire  dies,  but 
the  desire  to  be  like  Him." 

Alcyone  makes  this  remark  with  the  memory  of  the  great 
unifying  fact  of  standing  in  the  presence  of  the  Master.  I 
myself  remember  on  one  occasion  standing  in  the  presence  of 
one  of  the  Greatest  of  earth's  Teachers  and  experiencing  the 
most  complete  sense  of  unity  I  have  ever  known.  In  the  first 
moment  I  felt  acutely  my  own  unworthiness,  but  in  a  flash 
that  was  past.  He  lifted  me  into  Himself,  as  it  were,  and  I 
was  one  with  Him — seeing  with  Him,  being  with  Him.  So  I 
can  of  my  own  experience  testify  to  the  truth  of  the  statement 
that  "in  the  light  of  the  Master's  presence  all  desire  dies, 

114 


save  the  desire  to  be  like  him."  And  the  desire  to  be  like 
Him  is  immediately  accomplished  by  the  Master's  power  of 
drawing  us  away  from  the  smaller  self.  The  Master  feels  so 
strongly  His  unity  with  us  that  it  temporarily  compels  the 
feeling  on  our  part  of  unity  with  Him.  But  we  must  re- 
member that  this  feeling  is  a  temporary  one,  and  that  when 
out  of  His  presence,  away  from  His  compelling  influence,  we 
tend  to  fall  back  into  the  illusion  that  if  our  likings  and  dis- 
likings  are  taken  away  from  us  there  will  be  no  self  left.  For- 
tunately, as  we  are  told,  desirelessness  does  not  depend  upon 
being  in  the  presence  of  the  Master.  His  great  value  to  us 
consists  in  His  continually  emphasising  the  true  desirelessness 
in  His  own  nature,  and  sending  out  strong  impulses  which 
gradually  tend  to  awaken  wise  desirelessness  in  us.  We,  on  our 
side,  must  be  alive  to  these  great  impulses,  and  we  must  gradu- 
ally train  ourselves  to  make  use  of  them.  Now  they  are  always 
playing  about  us,  but  they  cannot  affect  the  God  within,  save 
infinitesimally,  unless  and  until  the  God  within,  of  Its  own 
volition,  wills  Its  upward  climb.  In  connection  with  desire- 
lessness the  Master  points  out  that  "discrimination  has  already 
shown  you  that  the  things  which  most  men  desire,  such  as 
wealth  and  power,  are  not  worth  having;  when  this  is  really 
felt,  not  merely  said,  all  desire  for  them  ceases."  Hence  we 
must  begin  by  finding  out  what  things  are  worth  having  and 
what  things  are  not  worth  having,  and  gradually  we  eliminate 
those  we  realise  to  be  no  longer  worth  having,  until  at  last  we 
find,  so  far  as  our  own  evolution  is  concerned,  the  only  thing 
remaining  worth  having. 

Eelativity  of  Right  Desires 

At  our  varying  stages  of  evolution  various  things  are 
right  to  be  desired.  Most  men,  we  are  told,  desire  wealth  and 
power,  and  it  may  be  that  these  desires  are  a  necessary  stage 
for  them.  For  we  only  reach  the  higher  desires  by  climbing 
upon  the  down-trodden  forms  to  those  which  are  higher.  So 
unless  men  desire  wealth  and  power,  and  through  such  desire 
proceed  to  realise  that  wealth  and  power  confer  merely  tem- 

115 


porary  benefits,  they  will  not  be  ready  for  the  next  stage 
which  may  be  "  to  gain  heaven,  or  to  attain  personal  liberation 
from  rebirth.' '  So  you  must  not  imagine  that  because  an  in- 
dividual has  a  desire  which  you  have  outgrown,  therefore  he 
ought  to  have  outgrown  it  too.  In  the  matter  of  desire  al- 
ways learn  "to  mind  your  own  business,' '  and  do  not  expect 
other  people  to  conform  to  your  standards,  any  more  than 
you  can  imagine  the  Master  as  limited  by  ideals  which,  to  you, 
are  the  highest  conceivable.  It  is  not  for  you  or  for  me  to 
say  at  what  stage  an  individual  ought  to  have  realised  that 
any  particular  desire  ceases  to  be  worth  having.  If  he  wants 
an  experience,  if  he  desires  an  experience,  it  is  probably  be- 
cause he  has  not  yet  passed  the  stage  appropriate  to  the  ex- 
perience. Of  course  if  we  are  in  charge  of  young  people  it 
becomes  our  duty  to  try  and  make  their  desires  as  noble  and 
unselfish  as  possible,  but  we  must,  at  the  same  time,  remember 
that  they  may  wish  in  their  young  lives  to  run  rapidly  through 
a  series  of  desires  which  we,  in  this  particular  life,  have  man- 
aged for  the  time  being  to  outgrow.  I  often  hear  of  young  peo- 
ple saying  that  while  they  feel  that  in  the  long  run  Theosophy 
is  the  only  thing  worth  working  for,  for  a  little  time  they 
would  like  to  experience  the  ordinary  worldly  life.  You  and  I 
perhaps,  having  experienced  the  ordinary  worldly  life,  know 
its  valuelessness  and  desire  it  no  longer.  Possibly  we  may  have 
substituted  that  which,  to  us,  is  a  higher  desire.  Our  young 
friends  will  doubtless  come  to  this  stage,  but  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  they  may  not  have  to  pass  through  a  series 
of  experiences  similar  to  those  which  have  led  you  and  me  to 
our  present  position.  The  young  physical  body  desires  above 
all  things  contact  with  an  outer  world  which  it  has  not  had 
so  great  an  opportunity  of  knowing  as  have  had  older  people. 
We  sometimes  jump  to  the  conclusion,  therefore,  that  young 
people  are  not  as  earnest  as  we  are  ourselves.  This  may  have 
been  a  conclusion  to  which  elder  people  may  have  come  when 
we  were  young,  and  when  we  ourselves  turned  from  those 
ideals  which  the  elder  people  of  our  generation  had  already 
reached.    A  desire  is  a  desire,  and  does  not  cease  to  be  desire 

116 


because  it  ought  not  to  be  desired.  The  only  way  to  cause 
cessation  of  desire  is  to  experience  its  object,  and  while  I  do 
not  by  this  wish  to  suggest  that  we  should  rush  headlong  into 
the  satisfaction  of  all  possible  desires  that  come  haphazard 
into  our  consciousness,  I  nevertheless  feel  that  it  is  not  in  the 
least  degree  helpful  to  baulk  desires  which  are  insistent.  I 
should,  in  the  case  of  young  people,  proceed  along  the  lines  of 
strengthening  the  powers  of  discrimination,  so  that  they 
themselves  may  be  able  to  decide  between  the  various  types 
of  desire,  and  to  select  the  more  noble  as  against  the  less 
noble,  the  less  selfish  as  against  the  more  selfish. 


-, 


Discrimination  in  Desire 


That  is  why  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  the  qualification 
of  Discrimination  comes  first.  First  get  a  standard  based  up- 
on past  experience,  and  upon  the  realisation  that  certain  de- 
sires afford  less  permanent  satisfaction  than  others.  This 
standard  will  be  the  main  factor  in  helping  people  to  turn 
away  from  desires  which  tend  to  make  them  identify  them- 
selves with  their  lower  bodies.  I  do  not  say  to  young  people 
that  they  ought  to  have  this  desire,  and  ought  not  to  have 
that;  I  say  to  them  that  they  should  pay  attention  to  their 
experience,  and  make  their  experience  their  guide.  Those 
who  feel  to  a  very  considerable  extent  at  the  mercy  of  their 
desires,  may  very  well  make  a  point  of  carefully  reading  all 
that  the  Master  says  with  regard  to  discrimination.  Remem- 
ber how  He  asks  us  to  distinguish  between  our  various  bodies 
and  ourselves ;  between  right  and  wrong ;  between  the  import- 
ant and  the  unimportant;  between  the  more  useful  and  the 
less  useful.  Remember  how  He  advises  us  "that  the  small 
thing  which  is  directly  useful  in  the  Master's  work  is  far  bet- 
ter worth  doing  than  a  large  thing  which  the  world  would 
call  good. ' '  Then  again,  remember  how  He  tells  us  that  ' '  God 
is  Wisdom  as  well  as  Love, ' '  and  that  the  more  wisdom  we  have 
the  more  we  can  manifest  God.  Then  He  emphasises  the  need 
for  truth,  for  unselfishness,  and  for  realising  the  God  in  every- 

117 


one  and  everything.  In  these  various  ways  our  discrimina- 
tion becomes  reliable  and  helpful,  and  so  we  are  led  to  a 
realisation  of  what  desirelessness  really  means. 

We  must  not  forget  when  we  are  reading  what  the  Master 
tells  us  about  desirelessness,  that  He  is  addressing  a  pupil 
about  to  pass  through  the  portal  of  Initiation,  and  His  re- 
marks do  not  necessarily  therefore  apply  to  those  who  have 
not  reached  that  stage.  They  do,  however,  represent  an  ideal, 
and  as  those  who  read  these  pages  should  be  within  reasonable 
distance  of  discipleship,  it  is  well  that  they  should  standardise 
their  ideals  as  far  as  possible  in  conformity  with  those  re- 
quired by  men  and  women  already  accepted  as  the  Master's 
apprentices.  The  spiritual  condition  of  the  pupil  addressed 
in  these  pages  becomes  clear  when  we  read  that  he  must  not 
fall  into  the  error  of  desiring  heaven,  or  personal  liberation 
from  rebirth.  "If  you  have  forgotten  self  altogether,  you 
cannot  be  thinking  when  that  self  shall  be  set  free,  or  what 
kind  of  heaven  it  shall  have."  I  think  the  Master  in  this 
passage  is  probably  referring  to  the  fact  that  the  candidate 
for  Initiation  dedicates  himself  to  the  service  of  the  world, 
and  so  no  longer  desires  heaven  for  himself,  or  his  own  per- 
sonal liberation  from  the  round  of  births  and  deaths.  This 
does  not  mean  that  for  many  people  such  desires  may  not  be 
entirely  proper.  They  are  only  not  appropriate  for  those  of 
us  who  wish  to  prepare  ourselves  for  the  Master's  service, 
since  the  Master's  service  means  the  service  of  the  world,  and 
forgetfulness  of  the  individual  self. 

How  difficult  that  service  is,  is  made  clear  when  the 
Master  tells  us  "that  all  selfish  desire  binds,  however  high 
may  be  its  object,  and  until  you  have  got  rid  of  it  you  are  not 
wholly  free  to  devote  yourself  to  the  work  of  the  Master." 
There  are  very  few  pupils  ready  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
work  of  the  Master!  Speaking  as  one  of  the  humblest,  I 
notice  how  even  my  own  selfish  desires  bind,  and  interfere  with 
the  duties  I  owe  to  my  Teachers.  But  my  own  condition  may 
give,  perhaps,  comfort  to  others,  in  that  they  may  realise  that 
we  are  not  expected  to  get  rid  of  all  selfish  desire  before  we 

118 


I 


can  hope  to  become  pupils  of  one  or  other  of  the  great  Teach- 
ers. But  we  are  expected,  at  least,  to  make  Their  work  the 
dominant  object  of  our  lives,  and  to  be  willing  at  all  times  to 
subordinate  our  individual  concerns  to  the  needs  of  the  world 
for  which  we  live.  However  this  may  be,  selfish  desire  does 
bind,  and  so  there  are  but  few  who  can  consider  themselves  as 
true  servants  of  the  Master.  Indeed  desire  is  a  most  subtle 
form  of  illusion,  and  the  Master  shows  us  how  many  subtle  de- 
sires there  are  which,  perhaps,  we  are  inclined  to  call  quite 
natural. 

Desire  for  the  Fruits  of  Action 

"Surely  there  is  no  harm  in  wanting  to  see  the  result  of 
work,  or  to  see  how  we  help  other  people?"  I  quite  agree 
that  for  most  of  us  such  desires  are  natural,  inevitable,  and 
perhaps  helpful,  inasmuch  as  they  may  make  us  work  and  help 
other  people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Master  tells  us  that 
such  desires  imply  want  of  trust.  "When  you  pour  out  your 
strength  to  help,  there  must  be  a  result,  whether  you  can  see 
it  or  not ;  if  you  know  the  Law  you  know  this  must  be  so. ' '  So 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  may  be  well  to  confess  at  once  that 
I  often  desire  to  see  the  result  of  my  work,  and  to  see  how 
much  I  have  helped  people.  I  think  I  may  go  so  far  as  to 
disclaim  any  desire  for  people's  gratitude,  though  gratitude 
is  certainly  a  most  pleasant  experience.  But  I  realise  quite 
clearly  how  necessary  it  is  to  have  desirelessness  as  regards 
the  result  of  work,  and  as  regards  the  amount  of  helpfulness 
an  individual  receives  in  relation  to  the  amount  given.  So  I 
am  trying  gradually  to  work  towards  this,  and  to  do  right 
for  the  sake  of  right  and  not  in  the  hope  of  reward — not  in 
the  hope  of  seeing  the  result.  The  Master  points  out  it  is 
a  question  of  love.  The  intensity  and  purity  of  the  love  de- 
termines the  amount  of  desirelessness.  If  we  love  an  indi- 
vidual we  give  him  of  our  best,  whatever  the  result  may  be; 
if  we  love  our  work  we  pour  our  whole  hearts  into  it  and 
have  no  time  to  think  of  the  result  accomplished.    We  leave 

119 


results  to  take  care  of  themselves,  as  indeed  we  are  justified 
in  doing.  Love  is  the  great  purifier  of  desire,  and  while 
it  is  true  that  many  people  are  inclined  to  mistake  passion 
for  love,  true  love  is  utterly  self-sacrificing  and  derives  the 
completest  joy  from  the  mere  process  of  giving.  As  the 
Master  says:  "You  must  give  yourself  to  the  service  of  the 
world  because  you  love  it,  and  cannot  help  giving  yourself 
to  it." 

Service  Our  Standard 

The  Master  proceeds  to  explain  to  us  that  it  is  very  un- 
wise to  desire  further  powers  until  we  have  adequate  control 
of  those  we  already  possess.  As  He  says,  they  will  come  when 
He  knows  that  it  is  best  for  us  to  have  them.  Most  of  us  who 
are  really  in  earnest  soon  find  out  that  we  have  as  much  as 
we  can  do,  indeed  more  than  we  can  do,  to  use  wisely  and 
moderately  the  powers  we  already  possess — the  powers  that 
ordinary  people  possess.  We  find,  too,  that  we  are  very  far 
from  having  learned  how  to  use  the  force  already  at  our  com- 
mand, and  that  it  will  take  us  a  very  long  time  indeed  to  be 
sure  of  ourselves.  I  always  wonder  at  the  conceit  of  people 
who  want  to  acquire  psychic  powers,  in  other  words,  powers 
beyond  those  which  we  normally  possess.  Psychic  powers 
belong  to  a  world  different  from  the  physical,  and  it 
seems  to  me  to  be  very  undesirable  to  want  to  add  the  ex- 
periences of  another  world  until  we  are  fairly  sure  of  our 
attitude  in  connection  with  the  experiences  the  physical  world 
affords  us.  Some  people  have  certain  psychic  faculties.  Per- 
haps they  see  nature  spirits,  or  auras,  or  they  can  read  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  other  people.  But  the  fact  that  they 
can  see  these  things  does  not  mean  that,  therefore,  they  are 
able  to  draw  correct  judgments  from  such  sight.  We  know 
how  difficult  it  is  with  the  waking  consciousness  in  the  phy- 
sical brain  to  draw  just  conclusions  from  all  that  we  see 
around  us.  This  is  none  the  less  difficult  when  our  waking 
consciousness  is  transferred  to  the  astral  plane,  and  is  in  con- 

120 


tact  with  the  experiences  appropriate  to  that  plane.  To  un- 
derstand the  world  in  which  we  live  for  many  hours  of  the 
day  is  difficult  enough,  and  for  my  part  I  think  it  is  just  as 
well  to  confine  our  attention  to  that  world  until  those  wiser 
than  ourselves  deem  it  desirable  to  impose  a  greater  burden 
on  our  judgment  than  has  hitherto  existed.  If  I  see  a  certain 
colour  in  a  person's  aura,  how  can  I  be  really  sure  what  that 
colour  means  in  connection  with  that  special  individual  ?  And 
even  if  I  am  certain,  what  means  has  that  individual,  who 
perhaps  is  not  a  clairvoyant  as  I  am  myself,  of  judging  the 
extent  of  my  infallibility?  In  the  Theosophical  Society  we 
have  many  people  who  profess  to  see  this,  to  experience  that, 
to  hear  messages,  and  so  forth.  Personally,  if  I  ever  judge  at 
all,  I  judge  of  people  by  their  actions  as  I  see  them,  and  by  the 
extent  to  which  self-sacrifice  seems  to  dominate  their  lives.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  we  also  have  in  our  ranks  people  who 
long  to  be  continually  in  contact  with  the  mysterious,  and  who 
are  willing  to  believe,  to  almost  any  extent,  that  which  is  out  of 
the  ordinary.  The  Master  teaches  us  that  we  belong  to  Him  ac- 
cording as  we  make  service  of  our  fellow  creatures  an  ever-in- 
creasing part  of  our  lives.  That  is  the  standard,  and  those  who 
live  lives  of  continual  self -surrender  are  alone  entitled  to  re- 
ceive respect  for  statements  made  in  connection  with  condi- 
tions which  the  ordinary  individual  has  no  means  of  judging. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  more  an  individual  really  has 
these  psychic  powers  the  less  he  talks  about  them,  the  less  he 
imposes  them  upon  other  people.  He  uses  them  for  helping,  but 
realises  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  not  wise  to  ask  other  people 
to  attach  credence  to  that  of  which  they  have  so  far  had  no  ex- 
perience. As  the  Master  observes:  "In  any  case  the  time  and 
strength  that  it  takes  to  gain  them  might  be  spent  in  work  for 
others.' '  In  the  course  of  development  these  powers  will  un- 
doubtedly come,  and  those  who  truly  rely  upon  the  Master  will 
not  trouble  about  them  until  He  gives  directions  as  to  their 
unfoldment,  or  unless  they  have  come  naturally  and  without 
effort.  If  only  people  would  remember  that  it  ought  to  take 
us  all  our  time  to  use  the  powers  we  already  have  in  the  ser- 

Ivice  of  our  surroundings! 


121 


CHAPTER  XIII 

DESIRELESSNESS    (Concluded) 

The  Master  then  lays  stress  upon  a  few  very  common  de- 
sires which  the  candidate  for  Initiation  or  discipleship  must 
strive  to  avoid.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  many  of  us  to  appear 
clever,  to  shine  in  conversation.  But  in  the  Master's  world 
nothing  is  said  save  that  which  is  true,  kind,  and  helpful. 
I  say  deliberately,  "In  the  Master's  world,"  because  I  am 
afraid  that  this  direction  can  only  be  successfully  carried  out 
by  those  who  either  are  Adepts,  or  approaching  Adept  level. 
Nevertheless,  we  must  gradually  strive  towards  this  ideal, 
and  perhaps  take  one  of  the  conditions  at  a  time.  We  might, 
for  example,  determine  for  a  certain  period  of  time  to  be  ut- 
terly truthful,  and  then  by  degrees  qualify  truth  with  kind- 
ness and  helpfulness.  It  is  a  matter  for  experiment  and 
gradual  development.  The  useful  maxim:  "Think  twice  be- 
fore you  speak,"  might,  for  you  and  me,  be  extended  to 
"Think  seven  times  before  you  speak."  I  am  often  told  by 
people  to  whom  I  give  this  advice  that  anyone  following  these 
directions  would  hardly  ever  be  able  to  say  anything  at  all, 
or  that  by  the  time  he  had  thought  seven  times  the  necessity 
for  the  remark  would  have  passed!  That  is  quite  probable, 
and  it  might  be  worth  while  to  remember  that  most  of  our 
conversation  is  both  useless  and  unprofitable,  and  there  are 
many  remarks  which  after  reflection  we  wish  we  had  not 
made.  The  teaching  comes  to  this:  that  we  should  be  delib- 
erate and  not  impulsive ;  that  we  should  realise  that  truth 
is  far  more  helpful  than  outward  splendour,  and  as  the  Master 
points  out  we  must  get  used  to  thinking  carefully  before 
speaking,  for  as  we  grow  truths  are  given  to  us  which  it 
would  not  necessarily  be  helpful  to  utter  to  the  outside  world. 
Above  all  we  want  to  be  helpful,  not  to  appear  learned. 

122 


The  Duty  of  Non-Interference 

"Another  common  desire  which  you  must  sternly  re- 
press," says  the  Master,  "is  the  wish  to  meddle  in  other 
men's  business/ '  Note  that  the  Master  uses  the  word 
"  sternly/ '  indicating  this  is  a  desire  to  which  we  are  all  un- 
commonly susceptible.  I  suppose  that  more  harm  is  done  by 
yielding  to  this  desire  than  people  at  all  realise,  not  only  be- 
cause we  interfere  with  another  person's  responsibilities,  but 
also  because  we  imagine  that  everyone  else  must  look  upon 
things  from  the  same  point  of  view  from  which  we  ourselves 
regard  them.  We  are  all  at  different  levels  of  evolution:  all 
have  different  duties,  different  conceptions  of  life,  different 
lines  of  activity,  and  have  different  parts  of  the  plan  to  help  in 
working  out.  So  we  must  never  forget  that  each  individual  is 
working  out  his  destiny  in  his  own  way,  and  while  there  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  help  him  if  he  asks  for  help,  or  if 
we  feel  we  can  usefully  be  of  assistance  to  him,  we  must  never 
forget  that  we  cannot  possibly  see  things  from  his  stand- 
point, nor  can  we  imagine  what  his  "dharma"  under  certain 
circumstances  would  be.  There  are  circumstances,  of  course, 
in  which  certain  steps  have  to  be  taken,  in  which  a  certain 
course  of  action  has  to  be  adopted,  and  such  steps,  or  such 
course  of  action,  may  possibly  be  in  opposition  to  the  views 
and  principles  of  some  members  of  the  body  which  has  to 
take  the  decision.  For  example,  in  the  present  war  there  are 
people  who  believe  that  the  war  ought  never  to  have  been 
begun  at  all,  and  yet  it  is  quite  possible  to  imagine  that  the 
war  is  inevitable,  and  people  who  believe  that  it  ought  never 
to  have  been  begun  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  be  ignored. 
Sometimes  the  will  of  the  majority  must  prevail ;  sometimes 
the  will  of  the  minority ;  at  all  events,  it  does  not  follow  that 
everybody  must  have  his,  or  her,  way  at  all  times. 

But  this  is  a  far  different  matter  from  judging  other 
people,  or  from  trying  to  interfere  with  what,  after  all,  is 
their  business.  "Everyone,"  says  the  Master,  "has  full  right 
to  free  thought  and  speech  and  action."     But,   of  course, 

123 


He  must  not  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  other  people,  ex- 
cept under  very  abnormal  circumstances.  We  constantly 
hear,  at  the  present  time,  of  such  freedom  being  interfered 
with,  and  of  various  kinds  of  oppression  being  directed  to- 
wards those  who  do  not  think  with  the  majority.  The  point 
is  a  very  difficult  one  because,  in  such  difficult  times  as  these, 
I  can  conceive  it  necessary,  on  occasion,  for  much  individual 
freedom  to  be  surrendered  for  the  sake  of  the  freedom  of  the 
whole.  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  stress  on  this  aspect  of  the  situa- 
tion, because  it  would  involve  me  in  a  long  line  of  argument 
outside  the  particular  object  with  which  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  was  written.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  much  turns  upon 
the  way  in  which  we  define  that  word  "freedom,"  and  be- 
fore you  allow  yourself  to  suppose  that  the  Master  has  laid 
a  ban  on  all  restriction,  just  think  over  the  question  as  to 
what  freedom  really  means,  and  try  to  fit  in  your  definition 
with  the  fact  that  perfect  freedom  means  perfect  service. 
The  point  on  which  I  imagine  the  Master  is  laying  stress  in 
this  particular  paragraph  is  that  we  must  not  imagine  that 
that  which  is  true  for  us  is  necessarily  true  for  everybody  else 
— or  ought  to  be !  In  other  words  we  must  grow  increasingly 
tolerant.  You  claim  the  freedom  to  do  what  you  think  proper. 
Other  people  must  have  the  same  freedom,  and  are  entitled 
to  the  same  respect  and  appreciation  for  their  sincerity  of  pur- 
pose as  you  would  unhesitatingly  claim  for  your  own.  These 
remarks  apply  specially,  of  course,  to  the  outer  differences 
which  people  often  think  of  supreme  importance.  The  colour 
of  a  man's  skin;  his  religion;  his  customs!  All  these  largely 
affect  the  judgments  of  many  people.  Some  of  us  believe 
that  our  religion  alone  is  the  true  one,  that  our  customs  alone 
are  sensible  customs,  that  the  colour  of  our  skin  is  typical  of 
the  highest  stage  of  evolution  at  present  reached.  "We  in- 
stinctively depreciate  those  who  do  not  conform  to  the  stand- 
ards to  which  we  ourselves  imagine  that  we  conform.  "He 
is  not  in  our  set.  He  belongs  to  the  lower  classes,  he  does 
not  eat  as  we  eat,  his  habits  are  not  ours" — all  these  may, 
no  doubt,  be  statements  of  fact,  but  they  should  not  be  im- 

124 


plications  of  inferiority.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Theo- 
uophical  Society  couples  with  its  declaration  as  to  Universal 
Brotherhood  an  insistence  on  the  unity  of  all  great  religions, 
and  a  declaration  that  distinctions  of  sex  and  colour  do  not 
affect  the  essential  unity  of  mankind. 

Man,  the  Master  of  His  Destiny 

People  who  are  keen  about  other  peopled  business  are 
generally  uncertain  about  their  own,  and  are  eager  that  other 
people  should  conform  to  their  own  standards  in  order  that 
these  standards  may  have  behind  them  the  strength  of  many. 
On  the  other  hand,  behind  your  own  standards  of  life  should 
be  the  strength  of  your  own  purity  of  conviction.  Strength 
does  not  lie  in  numbers  but  in  sincerity  of  belief.  People 
sometimes  believe  that  law  ultimately  rests  upon  force,  but 
as  a  matter  of  fact  law  rests  upon  consent,  for  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  force  a  law  upon  an  individual  who  does  not  choose  to 
obey  it.  You  may  kill  the  body  but  you  cannot  kill  the  spirit, 
and  that  is  what  many  governments  have  found  to  their  cost. 
The  Komans  killed  the  bodies  of  the  Christian  martyrs,  but 
the  spirit  of  the  Christian  martyrs  built  the  Church  which 
has  endured  long  after  imperial  Rome  ceased  to  exist. 

You  will  notice  that  the  Master  takes  care  to  observe 
that  there  is  no  harm  in  suggesting  to  an  individual  that  he 
is  doing  wrong  if  you  feel  that  it  would  be  helpful  to  tell 
him  so.  Parents,  for  example,  often  have  the  duty  of  telling 
their  children  that  they  think  they  are  wrong,  and  they 
sometimes  have  to  restrain  them  from  doing  what  they  think 
to  be  wrong  or  unwise.  There  is  never  any  harm  in  placing 
your  knowledge  at  the  disposal  of  other  people,  but  you  must 
not  imagine  that  you  can  force  them  to  believe  that  which  you 
happen  to  know  and  believe.  Experience  must  always  come 
from  within,  and  while  people  may  sometimes  act  according 
to  your  advice,  even  though  they  do  not  necessarily  under- 
stand it,  the  only  good  karma  they  will  get  will  lie  in  the 
action  and  not  in  the  motive,  for  the  motive  is  yours.  Theirs 
is  the  good  karma  of  obedience  but  yours  is  the  karma  of 


is  xne  gc 


125 


knowledge,  and  the  karma  of  Knowledge  is  better  than  that 
of  obedience. 

People  are  very  anxious  to  live  near  one  of  the  great 
Teachers  so  as,  probably,  to  be  relieved  of  responsibility  and 
anxiety  for  using  their  own  judgment,  thus  learning  through 
mistakes.  They  do  not  understand  that  they  would, 
under  these  circumstances,  only  be  using  the  Master's 
judgment  instead  of  striving  to  develop  their  own. 
From  time  to  time  the  Master  can  stimulate,  but  the  man  is 
indeed  the  master  of  his  destiny  and  must  work  it  out  for 
himself.  Those  people  are  most  helpful  in  the  world  who 
have  themselves  gone  through  many  experiences,  who  have 
had  to  suffer  the  " slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune," 
and  who  have  gained  from  the  buffeting  a  strength  which 
they  can  use,  not  only  for  themselves  but  in  the  service  of 
others  also.  "When,  through  experience,  our  judgment  and 
discrimination  have  become  keen  and  strong,  then  is  it  that 
the  actual  presence  of  the  Master  might  be  of  very  great  ad- 
vantage. In  the  meantime,  while  He  exercises  a  parental 
watchfulness  over  us,  He  leaves  us  to  mind  our  own  business, 
and  to  learn  what  is  the  nature  of  true  freedom. 

Gossip 

I  should  like  to  lay  great  stress  upon  the  Master's  warn- 
ing that  we  should  not  go  and  gossip  with  some  third  person 
about  another  person  unless,  of  course,  there  is  some  special, 
and  helpful,  reason  for  so  doing.  But  many  people  spend 
their  time  in  taking  other  people  to  pieces,  enjoying  the  gos- 
sip because  it  has  a  stimulating  effect  upon  the  astral  or  men- 
tal bodies.  But  such  action  is,  as  the  Master  says,  i '  extremely 
wicked. "  It  is  wicked  because  it  creates  thought-forms  which 
tend  to  fasten  upon  the  individual  weakness,  and  make  it 
more  difficult  for  the  victim  to  overcome,  his  deficiencies.  "We 
irritate  the  sore  places  and  the  result,  of  course,  is  that  they 
take  infinitely  longer  to  heal.  It  is  very  difficult  to  bear  this 
advice  in  mind  because  gossip  is  so  extraordinarily  common  a 
failing,  and  many  people  would  have  nothing  to  say  at  all 

126 


were  they  to  cease  gossiping.  Nevertheless,  we  are  contin- 
ually being  told  that  our  speech  should  be  helpful,  and  gos- 
sip is  very  distinctly  harmful. 

Recognition  of  the  Ego 

I  can  quite  imagine  people  saying  that  they  would  not 
like  anyone  to  tell  them  if  they  were  doing  wrong,  not  so 
much  because  they  dislike  to  be  told  but,  probably,  because 
they  fear  the  manner  of  the  telling.  It  is  perfectly  true  that 
some  people  take  a  delight  in  pointing  out  to  others  their 
mistakes  and  weaknesses,  and  pointing  them  out  in  a  com- 
paratively cruel  manner.  They  point  them  out  harshly  and 
unsympathetically  without  making  the  person  feel  they  are 
with  him  in  the  effort  to  correct  his  fault.  Everything  de- 
pends on  the  way  in  which  you  do  things.  There  are  some 
people  who  have  the  faculty  of  saying  anything  without  giv- 
ing offense,  no  matter  what  they  say.  Others  can  hardly  open 
their  lips  without  causing  trouble.  It  all  depends  on  what 
is  behind  the  action,  behind  the  speech,  behind  the  thought, 
behind  the  feeling.  Anyone  who  is  genuinely  desirous 
of  helping,  and  who  has  a  strong  feeling  of  sym- 
pathy for  others,  can  always  safely  point  out  to 
their  friends  any  faults  he  may  think  they  have,  be- 
cause his  manner  of  pointing  out  would  be  to  show  these 
individuals  that  he  had  a  real  brotherly  sympathy  for  them, 
and  that  he  assumed  no  superior  attitude,  being  conscious  of 
his  own  defects.  On  the  whole,  however,  we  should  realise 
that  we  have  as  much  as  we  can  do  in  strengthening  our  own 
weak  places,  and  the  more  we  can  do  to  emphasise  other  peo- 
ple ?s  good  qualities,  the  more  we  shall  help  them  to  grow.  In 
this  connection  I  should  like  to  point  out  the  value  of  a  book 
written  by  Jerome  K.  Jerome,  entitled  The  Passing  of  the 
Third  Floor  Back.  In  this  book  one  of  the  characters — a 
stranger — is  continually  laying  stress  on  people's  potential 
quality.  He  goes  to  a  boarding  house  in  which  are  a  num- 
ber of  quite  ordinary  people,  and  by  identifying  him- 
self with  their  higher  natures  he  causes  them  automatically 

127 


to  drop  the  foolishness  which  had  been  making  their  lives  so 
ineffective.  Hitherto  they  had  all  been  looking  contemptu- 
ously at  each  other  and  had  been  criticising  each  other, 
and  the  result  was  that  each  became  confirmed  in 
his  own  vulgarities  and  he  found  himself  estranged 
from  his  fellows.  The  coming  of  the  stranger  al- 
tered all  this,  and  when  he  came  into  the  room  everybody's 
lower  nature  retreated  into  the  background  and  the  higher 
stood  forth  triumphant.  You  may  say,  if  you  like,  that  he 
idealised  people.  Indeed  Mrs.  Besant  is  often  accused  of 
being  deceived  by  people  because  she  trusts  them  or  because 
she  idealises  them,  "because  she  does  not  know  them  as  they 
really  are,"  people  would  say.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  be- 
cause she  does  know  them  as  they  really  are  that  she  idealises 
them.  What  we  see  in  them  is  merely  a  temporary  phase; 
what  she  sees  in  them  is  the  eternal  reality  and  it  is  the 
reality  that  she  is  trusting.  The  reality  is  thankful  for  the 
trust,  however  much  the  temporary  lower  nature  may  seem 
to  be  unworthy  of  it,  and  the  result  is  that  the  individual 
whom  Mrs.  Besant  trusts,  or  whom  she  idealises,  is  infinitely 
the  better  for  the  trust  and  the  idealisation.  People 's  lower  na- 
tures may  sometimes  take  advantage  of  her,  but  the  ego  has 
been  respected  and  recognised,  the  result  being  that  it  re- 
quires increased  strength  to  dominate  its  lower  vehicles.  I 
believe  that  this  attitude  is  the  attitude  we  should  all  strive 
increasingly  to  adopt.  The  test  of  spirituality  in  an  indi- 
vidual is  his  capacity  to  pierce  through  the  outer  form  into 
the  inner  reality,  to  dismiss  as  fleeting  that  which  many  of 
us  might  regard  as  of  the  essence,  and  to  associate  himself 
with  the  reality  which  most  of  us  may  be  unable  to  see.  Each 
one  of  us  has  his  defects,  and  many  of  our  friends  stop  short 
at  these  defects,  but  the  leader  draws  out  from  the  individual 
his  higher  self  and  calls  upon  that  to  dominate  the  ignor- 
ances, and  gradually  to  diminish  their  obstructive  power. 
The  leader  is  one  who  induces  a  sense  of  capacity,  of  life,  of 
energy,  of  power  to  surmount  obstacles,  to  overcome  diffi- 
culties.   He  is  able  to  do  this  by  evoking  the  God  within,  and 

128 


his  power  to  evoke  the  God  within  is  determined  by  the  ex- 
tent to  which  his  own  inner  nature  has  become  strong 
through  experience. 

The  Duty  of  Interference 

The  Master  points  out  that  it  is  our  duty  to  interfere 
in  cases  of  cruelty.  In  such  cases  it  is  not  a  question  of 
"minding  your  own  business "  but  of  protecting  the  weak 
against  the  ignorance  of  the  strong.  And  there  are,  of 
course,  certain  ignorances  which  cannot  be  tolerated.  If  we 
see  a  case  of  cruelty  to  an  animal  or  child  it  is  our  duty  to 
interfere,  but  not  with  brutality  or  passion.  We  sometimes 
become  furious  at  the  wrongs  done  to  other  people,  and  such 
fury  is  a  necessary  stage,  but  the  power  and  force  of  the 
fury  could  be  better  employed  in  other  ways.  Anger  never 
really  helps  in  the  long  run;  people  are  much  more  domi- 
nated by  calm  than  they  are  by  storm. 

We  are  told  also  that  if  we  see  anyone  breaking  the  law  of 
the  country  we  must  inform  the  authorities.  This  is  one  of 
the  phrases  least  understood  by  readers  of  this  little  book. 
They  do  not  see  that  our  primary  duty  is  to  be  on  the  alert 
against  laws  which  we  conceive  to  be  wrong,  and  to  fight  bad 
law  as  actively  as  we  can.  So  long  as  we  acquiesce  in  the 
law  we  must  accept  it  as  part  of  the  machinery  for  establish- 
ing peace  throughout  the  land.  Those  who  break  the  law  are, 
under  the  circumstances,  therefore,  disturbers  of  the  peace 
and  our  business  as  good  citizens  is  to  see  that  the  peace  is 
as  little  disturbed  as  possible.  People  so  often  declaim 
against  a  law  without  taking  the  slightest  trouble,  either  to 
agitate  for  its  repeal,  or  deliberately  to  submit  themselves 
to  its  provisions  in  order  to  show  its  injustice.  Our  first 
duty  is  to  help  to  make  the  laws  of  the  land  as  righteous  as 
we  can  make  them.  If  we  are  so  doing,  then  we  must  help  to 
see  that  they  are  not  broken.  The  difficulty  is  that  people 
pay  little  attention  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  only  take 
an  interest  in  them  when  they  are  strongly  brought  into  con- 

129 


flict  with  them.  You  will  notice  in  Mrs.  Besant's  Autobiog- 
raphy how  she  always  gave  notice  when  she  was  going  to  do 
anything  wrong,  in  order  that  the  law  might  be  applied,  be- 
cause she  knew  that  the  existence  of  law  in  the  country  was 
the  only  safeguard  for  individual  freedom,  and  while  she 
thought  it  her  duty  sometimes  to  fight  the  law,  she  fought  it 
openly,  and  with  a  willingness  to  come  under  its  authority. 
Indeed  she  always  went  out  of  her  way  to  assist  the  authori- 
ties to  take  cognisance  of  her  actions,  so  that  while  she 
might  be  breaking  the  law  she  would  not  actually  be  break- 
ing the  peace. 

People  sometimes  tell  me  that  they  would  not  be  traitors 
to  individuals  fleeing  from  justice  and  who  trust  in  them. 
I  do  not  believe  that  such  an  attitude  is  necessarily  true  loy- 
alty, either  to  the  individual  or  to  the  State.  If  an  indi- 
vidual has  offended  against  the  laws  of  the  country  it  is 
necessary  that  his  offence  should  be  brought  home  to  him  for 
the  sake  of  experience.  If  the  laws  of  the  country  are  un- 
just, we  should  already  have  been  busy  in  striving  to  have 
them  replaced  by  better  edicts.  It  means  that  people  do  not 
take  their  citizenship  sufficiently  earnestly,  do  not  take  suffi- 
cient trouble  about  their  civic  duties,  do  not  realise  their  in- 
dividual responsibility  for  the  laws  of  the  land.  Those  who 
have  no  responsibility  for  the  law  of  the  land,  and  who  can- 
not affect  it  in  any  way,  are,  indeed,  in  a  difficult  position, 
but  most  of  us  have  such  a  responsibility,  and,  having  it, 
must  stand  by  the  law  while  it  is  law,  and  seek,  if  we  think 
proper,  to  modify  such  portions  as  may  seem  to  us  unjust. 
It  means,  of  course,  that  not  only  must  we  be  watchful  about 
the  laws,  but  also  about  the  authorities.  It  often  happens 
that  the  authorities  are  men  or  women  who  have  no  business 
to  be  authorities  at  all;  who  do  not  know  how  to  use  their 
power  wisely,  in  which  case,  by  informing  the  authorities, 
we  might  be  placing  the  individual  in  the  hands  of  those 
whose  sense  of  power  overwhelms  their  sense  of  justice.  So 
we  must  be  careful  to  see  that  we  place  in  positions  of  au- 
thority only  those  who  are  worthy  of  the  trust.    I  quite  agree 

130 


that  this  takes  time,  but  we  must  be  ceaseless  in  our  efforts 
to  improve  the  conditions  of  society,  and  it  is  because  we  do 
not  take  these  duties  seriously  enough  that  we  find  ourselves 
in  the  difficulty  of  having  to  choose  between  our  duty  to  the 
country  in  which  we  live,  and  our  sense  of  justice  in  regard 
to  the  individual  who  asks  for  our  protection.  The  country 
ought  to  be  able  to  protect  as  justly  as  ourselves,  and  if  it 
cannot  we  must  help  it  to  do  so.  Remember  also  that  the  wel- 
fare of  the  many  is  of  greater  importance  than  the  needs  of 
the  one,  and  we  must  not  allow  our  personal  sympathy  for 
the  individual  entirely  to  override  the  conditions  which  make 
for  the  peace  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 

The  Ethics  of  a  Lie 

In  this  connection  there  often  arises  the  question  as  to 
whether  it  is  right  to  tell  a  lie  to  protect  another.  I  have 
been  sometimes  asked  in  meetings  whether,  if  I  wanted  to 
protect  a  refugee  from  justice,  I  should  be  willing  to  indicate 
to  his  pursuers  that  he  had  gone  in  a  direction  different 
from  that  actually  taken.  My  answer  is  that  it  all  depends 
upon  the  circumstances ;  upon  the  nature  of  the  wrong  done ; 
upon  the  various  points  to  which  I  have  just  alluded. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  I  choose  to  tell  a  lie  and  to  accept  the 
karma  for  so  doing  it  is  my  own  business  and  no  one  else's. 
It  is  quite  clear,  of  course,  that  people  should  not  lie,  but  I 
can  conceive,  personally,  that  circumstances  might  arise  in 
which,  rather  than  tell  the  truth,  I  would  tell  a  lie  and  ac- 
cept the  karma  of  the  evil  action.  The  question  is,  of  course, 
a  very  thorny  one,  and  the  motive  for  lying  would  have  to  be 
an  extreme  one.  Under  very  few  circumstances  are  we  justi- 
fied in  telling  lies,  but  I  am  not,  myself,  prepared  to  say 
that  I  would  never  tell  one.  In  asking  the  question  people 
seem  to  me  to  be  laying  too  great  a  stress  on  their  own  per- 
sonal progress.  They  do  not  want  to  lie,  not  so  much  because 
it  is  wrong  as  because  it  would  interfere  with  their  personal 
progress,  and  because  it  would  increase  their  burden  of 
karma.    I  consider  this  to  be  a  selfish  reason ! 

131 


Conclusion 

The  Master  concludes  by  telling  us  that  it  is  sometimes 
our  duty  gently  to  tell  people  of  their  faults,  especially  if  we 
are  placed  in  charge  of  them,  and  I  would  venture  to  empha- 
sise that  word  "gently."  Harshness  is  far  too  general  an 
attitude  of  those  who  desire  to  correct.  I  close  this  with  the 
priceless  words  "Mind  your  own  business,  and  learn  the 
virtue  of  silence !" 


132 


CHAPTEE   XIV 

THE  SIX  POINTS  OF  CONDUCT 

We  now  come  to  the  six  points  of  conduct  to  which  at- 
tention must  be  paid  by  those  who  are  seeking  to  serve  the 
Master.  These  six  points  are,  of  course,  well  known  to  all 
Hindus  since  they  are  specifically  dealt  with  in  Hindu  re- 
ligious literature.  I  do  not  want  to  trouble  you  with  the 
Samskrit  names  for  the  various  lines  of  development  indi- 
cated by  the  Master.  He  has  used  certain  English  words  by 
way  of  translation,  and  we  need  not  trouble  about  the  original 
terminology. 

You  probably  have  noticed  that  the  Master  gave  us 
at  the  outset  Discrimination,  because  by  discrimination  we 
are  taught  how  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong.  This 
capacity  is,  of  course,  the  foundation  of  our  evolution  in  the 
human  kingdom.  We  possess  a  conscience,  that  is  to  say  we 
possess  in  ourselves  the  result  of  past  experience  whereby 
we  are  able  to  test  experiences  as  they  come  along  and  to  ac- 
cept or  reject  them  according  to  their  uplifting  or  degrading 
effect. 

Stress  is  then  laid  on  the  qualification  of  Desirelessness, 
using  the  word  desirelessness  in  the  true  sense  of  not  allow- 
ing yourself  to  be  dominated  by  your  desires.  As  the  Master 
says:  "The  Qualification  of  Desirelessness  shows  that  the 
astral  body  must  be  controlled, ' '  and  we  are  told  that  the  first 
of  the  six  points  of  conduct,  namely  self-control  as  to  the 
mind,  shows  that  the  mental  body  must  be  controlled.  You 
may  perhaps  wonder  why  this  particular  qualification  is  not 
given  a  chapter  all  to  itself  as  was  the  qualification  of  desire- 
lessness with  reference  to  the  astral  body.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  with  most  of  us,  the  astral  body  is  more  fully  developed 

133 


than  the  mental  body.  Our  mental  body  comes  to  us  when  we 
pass  from  the  animal  to  the  human  kingdom,  and  is  therefore 
a  comparatively  recent  growth.  The  astral  body,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  been  with  us  during  our  life  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  has  to  a  very  large  extent  been  the  medium  through 
which  our  growth  so  far  has  taken  place — the  animal,  for 
example,  depends  for  its  growth  largely  on  the  vibrations  of 
its  astral  body.  The  result  is  that  coming  over  into  the  hu- 
man kingdom  with  an  astral  body  trained  to  vibrate  in  many 
directions,  the  new  lesson  we  have  to  learn  is  to  control  it, 
largely  through  the  help  of  the  new  mental  body  which  is,  up 
to  a  certain  point,  in  the  human  kingdom  the  special  medium 
for  growth.  The  Master  therefore  lays  great  stress  on  the 
need  for  controlling  the  astral  or  emotion  body,  and  places 
this  particular  qualification  in  its  natural  position  after  the 
supreme  quality  of  discrimination. 

Control  of  Mind 

At  once  the  Master  takes  us  to  the  most  important  aspect 
of  control  of  mind — control  of  temper  and  of  nerves.  Calm- 
ness of  mind  is  one  of  the  most  important  qualifications,  for 
unless  we  possess  it  there  is  very  little  chance  of  our  being  able 
to  control  our  emotions.  An  agitated  thought  inevitably 
reacts  on  the  astral  body,  and,  since  the  mental  body  is  a 
more  powerful  vehicle  than  the  astral,  the  effect  of  a  dis- 
turbed mental  body  is  largely  to  increase  the  disturbance  of 
the  astral.  Then  again  as  regards  the  nerves  which  are  the 
means  of  conveying  impressions  to  and  from  the  brain,  it  is 
very  necessary  to  have  them  under  control  so  that  both  their 
receptive  and  their  expressive  power  may  be  even.  The  dif- 
ficulty always  is,  especially  to  those  who  really  mean  business 
and  are  trying  to  acquire  sympathy  and  love,  that  in  order 
to  do  this  they  must  inevitably  make  their  bodies  much  more 
sensitive  to  outside  impressions  so  that  they  may  respond  to 
them  more  readily  than  hitherto.  This  means  that  every  out- 
side impression  affects  them  much  more  easily  than  it  would 
the  ordinary  individual,  and  the  result  is  that  the  nerves 

134 


become  tired  of  communicating  so  many  responses  and  im- 
pressions, and  so  tend  to  get  out  of  hand.  Hence  irritability 
and  depression — in  other  words  nerve  exhaustion.  At  the 
higher  levels  individuals  are  able  to  control  the  response  of 
the  nerves  to  the  outside  stimuli,  and  may  refuse  to  part  with 
more  nerve  power  than  they  can  afford  to  spare,  so,  while 
being  as  sensitive  as  their  younger  brethren  they  husband 
their  resources  more  carefully  and  respond  to  the  best  advan- 
tage instead  of  in  a  haphazard  manner.  Those  of  you  who 
have  been  trying  to  put  into  practice  the  principles  given  us 
in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  may  very  likely  have  noticed 
an  increased  tendency  towards  irritability,  towards  an  ab- 
sence of  calmness,  towards  even  a  passage  through  the  mind, 
or  through  the  emotions,  of  undesirable  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings. If  you  really  mean  business  you  may  take  comfort  in 
the  fact  that  probably  much  of  this  is  an  inevitable  concomi- 
tant of  your  efforts  towards  progress,  and  much  of  it  be- 
longs rather  to  the  outside  than  to  you — comes  from  outside 
sources  but  is  regarded  by  you  as  yours  because  of  your 
power  of  imagination.  Remember  that  sympathy  and  good 
will  are  largely  dependent  on  imagination,  and  if  you  train 
yourself  to  imagine  along  one  line  you  cannot  help  tending 
to  imagine  along  another  line  as  well,  and  you  can  control 
your  imagination  only  after  you  have  already  exercised  it  to 
considerable  extent.  I  should  like  to  lay  great  stress  on  this 
matter  of  the  imagination,  for  many  people  who  are  doing 
their  best  become  almost  martyrs  to  imagination1 — imagine 
all  kinds  of  difficulties  and  troubles  unnecessarily,  imagine 
all  kinds  of  evil  things  unnecessarily.  On  the  other  hand,  just 
so  far  as  they  are  able  accurately  to  imagine  the  sorrows  and 
troubles  of  those  around  them  so  far  will  they  be  able  use- 
fully to  help  them.  At  present  the  world  is  a  very  difficult 
place  to  live  in.  There  is  so  much  disturbance  both  on  the  men- 
tal and  emotional  planes  that  those  who  are  highly  sensitive 
find  life  in  a  big  town,  where  masses  of  people  are  sending 
violent  forces  through  these  planes,  a  very  difficult  business. 
In  the  first  place, '  there  is  much  anxiety,  much  trouble  and 


In  the 


135 


sorrow,  much  hopelessness  and  despair,  much  doubt  and 
confusion.  All  these  are  like  so  many  blows  to  the  sensitive 
person,  and  he  often  becomes  confused  as  to  whether  the  blow 
comes  from  within  or  without.  The  world  is  in  a  whirl  of 
excitement,  and  unless  one  has  sufficient  power  to  steady 
oneself  against  the  whirling  forces,  one  hardly  knows  whether 
the  excitement  is  from  within  or  from  without. 

The  Difficulty  of  the  Training 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  religious  training  generally 
takes  place  away  from  the  world,  in  the  sense  of  away  from 
its  outer  activities.  In  older  days  the  teacher  and  his  pupil 
retired  to  the  forest  and  lived  under  the  soothing  and  unify- 
ing influences  of  nature.  I  am  told  that  the  experiment  is 
now  being  tried  of  allowing  some  part  of  this  training  to 
take  place  in  the  outer  world.  If  the  experiment  is  success- 
ful, progress  can  obviously  become  much  more  rapid,  be- 
cause a  large  number  of  experiences  can  be  crowded  within  a 
comparatively  short  time.  On  the  other  hand  the  strain  is 
infinitely  greater,  however  much  more  rapid  the  progress 
may  be,  and  we  have  to  pay  in  terms  of  strain  for  the  quick- 
ness with  which  we  may  be  able  to  grow.  Speaking  from 
my  own  experience,  I  would  never  recommend  anyone  to 
offer  himself  without  very  careful  consideration  for  such 
special  training  as  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  is  intended  to 
give.  It  is  all  infinitely  worth  while  if  you  can  do  it,  but  it 
is  no  use  pretending  that  it  is  easy  or  that  it  has  not  its  mo- 
ments of  extreme  sorrow  and  unhappiness.  Such  sorrow  and 
unhappiness  are  undoubtedly  due  to  the  lower  bodies,  and 
need  have  no  place  in  the  training  at  all.  The  fact  of  the 
matter  is  however  that  they  are  there,  and  I  do  not  know 
anyone  now  on  the  Path  who  would  not  say  that,  while  the 
goal  is  worth  any  effort,  nevertheless  it  does  indeed  demand  an 
effort  of  no  inconsiderable  magnitude.  Fortunately  there 
is  the  normal  and  ordinary  rate  of  growth,  and  I  myself  some- 
times wonder  why  I  was  not  contented  with  that.   Remember, 

136 


no  one  can  be  forced  against  his  will  to  move  more  rapidly 
than  the  normal  rate.  No  one  could  have  said  to  me:  "You 
must  move .  more  quickly  than  you  want  to. ' '  What  they 
might  say  would  be :  "  If  you  want  to  move  more  quickly  the 
opportunity  is  open  to  you — it  is  for  you  to  decide.' '  I  can 
imagine  my  readers  saying  it  is  difficult  to  know  what  to  de- 
cide if  you  do  not  know  in  fact  what  is  before  you;  you  can 
only  decide  on  the  basis  of  past  experience,  not  on  the  result 
of  experiences  of  other  people.  This  is  true,  but  I  think  that 
the  Ego  probably  knows  what  is  likely  to  be  before  him,  that 
he  makes  the  choice  with  that  knowledge,  and  that  the  whole 
difficulty  consists  in  making  the  lower  bodies  do  that  which 
their  master  wants  them  to  do.  Down  here,  on  the  physical 
and  on  the  emotional  planes,  we  are  more  ignorant  than  is  the 
Ego,  for  the  Ego  is  the  direct  reflection  of  the  Monad — a 
spark  in  the  flame  of  God.  Further,  our  physical  and  emo- 
tional bodies  have  had  things  a  good  deal  their  own  way  in 
the  past ;  we  have  used  them  for  the  purposes  of  growth,  and 
they  want  to  go  on  being  used,  even  though  we  no  longer  need 
them  for  this  purpose.  What  we  need  them  for  now  is  that 
they  may  become  vehicles  for  the  expression  of  the  Ego's  will. 
We  want  them  more  as  messengers  than  as  independent  in- 
dividualities. They  have  already  grown,  in  the  case  of  those 
who  are  candidates  for  the  Path,  as  fully  as  is  necessary.  Their 
respective  functions  are  established.  Force  has  been  gener- 
ated, and  it  is  now  the  ego's  business  to  direct  it  into  the 
proper  channels.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  case  with  every- 
one. Doubtless  there  are  many  people  who  need  much  more 
expression  for  their  physical  and  emotional  bodies  than  they 
have  hitherto  been  able  to  obtain.  But  that  does  not  apply  to 
us,  for  our  special  business  is  to  acquire  the  qualification  of 
desirelessness. 

Remember  that  our  great  objective  is  to  vibrate  as  much 
as  possible  in  harmony  with  the  vibrations  of  our  Master,  so 
that  His  force  may  be  able  to  flow  through  us  uninterruptedly. 
While  we  vibrate  at  one  rate,  and  He  at  another,  the 
passage  of  the  force  through  us  is  very  much  more  difficult, 

137 


and  in  many  cases  almost  impossible.  What  He  is  telling 
us,  therefore,  in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master  is  how  to  harmonise 
our  vibrations  with  His,  so  that,  all  being  more  or  less  at  the 
same  rate,  He  may  be  able  with  comparatively  little  effort 
to  send  through  us  His  message  to  the  outer  world.  Calm- 
ness of  mind  is  needed,  not  only  that  we  may  not  think  hast- 
ily, and  not  only  that  we  may  have  a  peaceful  atmosphere 
into  which,  and  through  which  the  Master's  force  may  flow, 
but  also  that  we  may  be  able  to  meet  fearlessly  all  the  troubles 
and  difficulties  that  come  to  us  when  we  are  being  tested  as 
to  our  strength.  The  Master  wants  us,  as  He  says,  to 
make  light  of  the  troubles  which  come  into  our  lives, 
and  to  avoid  worrying  about  little  things.  I  think 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  passages  in  the  book  is  where 
the  Master  tells  us  that  all  that  happens  to  us  from 
the  outside — sorrows,  troubles,  sickness,  losses — belong  to  the 
past  and  are  therefore  of  no  importance.  I  must  candidly 
confess  that  I  find  myself  a  long  way  from  being  able  to 
reach  the  standard  set  by  our  Teacher  in  this  respect.  I  know 
it  in  theory,  which  I  hope  is  some  progress  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, but  I  cannot  at  present  put  it  into  practice.  Then  I 
cannot  always  remember  that  troublesome  things  are  as 
transitory  as  happy  ones,  although  the  Master  tells  us  that 
they  are.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  Master  wants 
us  to  remember  all  the  time  that  we  should  be  the  masters  of 
our  destinies  and  not  be  enslaved  by  them.  What  comes  to 
us  in  the  present  is  what  is  due  to  us  from  the  past,  and  the 
more  cheerfully  and  happily  we  bear  it  the  quicker  it  will  be 
over.  That  is  of  course  obvious,  but  when  one  is  in  the  midst 
of  trouble  one  does  not  know  how  long  it  will  be  before  it  is 
over,  for  it  would  not  be  trouble  if  one  could  detach  oneself 
from  it. 

Worry  and  Depression 

We  are  told  that  we  cannot  alter  our  sorrows  and  trou- 
bles so  it  is  useless  to  worry  about  them,  and  indeed  I  have 
heard  some  young  friends  of  mine  express  these  sentiments 

138 


with  the  most  cordial  approval.  But  I  cannot  help  thinking 
these  young  friends  of  mine  refuse  to  worry  because,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  they  have  nothing  to  worry  about.  It  is  not 
very  wonderful  to  avoid  worrying  when  you  have  no  worries, 
but  it  is  a  very  definite  spiritual  advance  when,  having  wor- 
ries, you  refuse  to  allow  them  to  worry  you.  If  I  may  be  al- 
lowed to  hazard  a  guess,  I  imagine  that  only  those  of  the 
rank  of  Master  are  likely  to  remain  at  all  times  completely 
joyous  and  serene.  I  do  not  say  this  in  order  to  give  people 
an  opportunity  of  thinking  that  they  cannot  be  expected  to 
be  joyous  and  serene.  We  are  all  expected  to  be  joyous  and 
serene,  but  the  lesson  takes  time  to  learn,  and  it  does  not  very 
much  matter  if  there  are  a  certain  number  of  backslidings 
on  the  way.  People  pay  far  too  much  attention  to  their 
lapses  from  successful  striving  in  the  direction  of  the  Quali- 
fications not  realising  that  these  are  inevitable.  As  little  at- 
tention as  possible  should  be  paid  to  them.  If  we  did  not 
often  fall  by  the  wayside  we  should  not  learn  how  to  sympa- 
thise with  those  who  fall  perhaps  more  frequently  than  we 
do  ourselves — if  possible.  Out  of  failure  comes  success,  and 
unless  we  ourselves  have  had  the  experience  of  failure  we  can- 
not help  others  at  times  when  they  most  need  help,  namely 
when  they  themselves  fail. 

Then  again  we  are  told  never  to  allow  ourselves  to  feel 
sad  or  depressed  because  it  makes  other  people's  lives  more 
difficult.  Here  again  we  have  a  long  way  to  go  before  we  can 
hope  to  accomplish  the  duty  thus  laid  upon  us  by  the  Master. 
At  such  a  time  as  this  its  accomplishment  is  doubly  hard,  for 
there  are  many  people  who  naturally  feel  depressed  because 
they  have  no  knowledge,  as  we  have,  of  the  laws  of  Karma 
and  Reincarnation  to  help  them.  They  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  fact  that  much  that  they  cannot  do  in  this  life  they  can 
do  in  another;  of  the  fact  that  things  they  have  longed 
for,  but  have  been  unable  to  accomplish,  in  this  life 
some  day  they  will  be  able  to  achieve  nor  do  they 
know  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  separation  from 
those    they    love.      With    ignorance    on    all    these    points 

139 


it  is  not  astonishing  they  should  be  depressed,  es- 
pecially since  we,  with  all  this  knowledge,  cannot  help  be- 
ing depressed  ourselves.  But  we  must  recognise  that  de- 
pression is  a  manifestation  of  ignorance,  of  inability  to  apply 
in  the  right  way  the  knowledge  we  possess.  We  must  try  to 
throw  it  off  as  soon  as  possible,  but  this  is  of  course  all  the 
more  difficult  in  the  midst  of  a  great  war  which  sends  its  sor- 
rows into  the  hearts  and  homes  of  everyone.  Above  all  things 
we  need  knowledge  if  we  would  dispel  depression,  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  every  effort  must  be  made  for  movements 
like  the  Theosophical  Society  and  the  Order  of  the  Star  in 
the  East  to  spread  the  knowledge  they  have,  especially 
through  books  such  as  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master,  for  in  this 
way  people  may  acquire  the  strength  to  bear  the  pressure  of 
evolving  life. 

One  of  the  ways  of  avoiding  depression  is,  as  we  are  told 
in  the  next  paragraph,  not  to  allow  our  thoughts  to  wander. 
If  we  have  had  troubles,  these  troubles  have  made  grooves 
along  which  thought  and  feeling  flow  easily,  and  if  we  allow 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  to  wander  they  naturally  take  the 
easiest  channel  and  that  channel  may  be  the  channel  fash- 
ioned by  trouble  or  by  pain.  If  we  let  our  thoughts  wander  they 
may  flow  along  the  channel  of  pain  and  trouble,  and  so  resus- 
citate difficulties  which  perhaps  in  reality  have  passed  away. 
Also  if  we  let  our  thoughts  wander,  all  kinds  of  evil  thoughts 
from  outside  can  come  into  a  mind  of  which  we  have  not  full 
control,  and  so  our  brains  may  become  receptacles  for  unde- 
sirable thoughts  which  we  very  likely  think  to  be  our  own 
and  which  cause  us  great  trouble  to  reject.  The  Master 
points  out  that  we  ought  always  to  try  to  keep  good  thoughts 
in  the  background  of  the  mind  so  that  when  it  has  nothing 
special  to  think  of  these  may  come  into  the  foreground  and 
keep  us  not  only  steady  but  conscious  of  that  relation  which 
subsists  between  ourselves  and  our  Elder  Brethren.  In  this 
way  the  channel  is  always  kept  open,  and  at  any  time  the 
Master  can  send  through  us  His  helpfulness  to  the  world. 


140 


CHAPTEB    XV 

THE  SIX  POINTS  OF  CONDUCT—  (Continued) 

We  now  come  to  a  very  important  observation  with  ref- 
erence to  the  practical  ways  in  which  we  should  strive  to 
control  the  mind. 

Practical  Ways  of  Mind  Control 

The  Master  suggests  that  we  should  think  each  day  of 
some  one  who  is  in  trouble,  surrounding  him  with  loving 
thought,  so  that  from  the  loving  thought  he  may  draw 
courage  and  power  of  endurance.  In  most  Occult 
Schools  there  are  definite  systems  of  training  whereby 
the  members  are  shown  how  to  control  the  kinds  of 
thought  that  enter  the  brain,  how  to  get  rid  of  those  they  do 
not  wish  to  receive,  and  how  at  any  time  to  draw  the  mind 
from  any  special  line  in  which  it  is  engaged  and  to  focus  it 
elsewhere.  When  I  was  Principal  of  the  Central  Hindu  Col- 
lege, Benares,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  helping  large  numbers  of 
students  in  this  direction,  and  I  suggested  to  them  that  they 
should  set  aside  three  special  times  during  the  day  during 
which  they  would  allow  only  a  special  kind  of  thought  to  pass 
through  the  mind.  The  first  of  these  times  was  in  the  morning 
just  before  rising,  the  second  was  about  mid-day,  and  the  third 
was  just  before  retiring  to  rest.  In  the  morning  I  advised 
them  first  to  think  of  what  they  were  going  to  do  during  the 
day  and  to  try  to  make  up  their  minds  to  do  everything  de- 
liberately, at  the  proper  time,  and  without  haste.  In  this 
way  they  were  to  fill  their  day  as  usefully  as  possible,  allow- 
ing, of  course  ample  time  for  recreation  and  rest.  Having 
made  a  mental  plan  of  the  day,  they  were  then  to  turn  their 

141 


thoughts  in  the  direction  of  those  who  needed  their  help. 
There  would  be  fellow  students  or  friends,  or  there  might  be 
people  in  distress  and  sorrow  to  whom  they  could  send,  as 
the  Master  directs,  a  loving  thought.  They  were  then  to  turn 
their  attention  to  their  families,  to  send  thoughts  of  good 
will  to  the  brothers  and  sisters  and  other  relatives.  After 
this  they  would  pass  to  the  elders — father  and  mother,  teach- 
ers and  professors.  Finally  their  thoughts  were  to  be  turned 
to  their  highest  conception,  whatever  it  might  be.  I  gener- 
ally recommended  the  Hindu  students  to  think  of  their  Gur- 
udeva  and  mentally  to  bow  in  reverence  before  Him.  Some 
might  turn  with  thoughts  of  love  to  a  revered  teacher,  others 
possibly  might  think  of  Mrs.  Besant,  others  might  think  of 
one  of  the  great  Masters  of  the  Wisdom.  It  would  not  mat- 
ter to  whom  they  turned,  provided  they  lifted  themselves  up 
at  this  moment  to  the  highest  they  knew.  In  this  way  they 
would  become  permeated  at  the  beginning  of  the  day  with 
the  greatest  thoughts  they  could  reach,  and  a  note  would  be 
struck  which,  in  course  of  time,  by  frequent  repetition,  would 
continually  be  sending  its  sound  vibrating  through  the  day. 
As  a  result  a  definite  force  would  be  created,  tending  to  mini- 
mise the  chances  of  mistake,  and  the  individuals  concerned 
would  be  centers  through  which  the  Master's  force  could  more 
easily  flow.  The  whole  process  need  not  take  longer  than  five 
minutes — or  at  the  outside  ten — and  ought  to  give  a  dignity 
to  the  day's  proceedings  which  these  do  not  possess  when  we 
hurry  unprepared  from  the  night's  rest  into  the  ordinary  ac- 
tivities of  what  is  called  the  waking  world. 

Then  at  noon,  no  matter  what  they  were  doing,  I  asked 
these  young  people  to  turn  their  thoughts  to  their  ideal  what- 
ever it  might  be,  so  as  to  show  themselves  capable  in  the  midst 
of  worldly  occupations  of  withdrawing  the  mind  from  that 
in  which  it  might,  for  the  time  being,  appear  to  be  absorbed. 
The  thought  of  the  ideal  should  never  be  absent  from  us,  no 
matter  what  we  are  doing,  no  matter  how  strenuously  we  are 
working,  and  in  order  that  the  ideal  may  not  lose  its  position 
I  would  recommend  people  in  the  middle  day  to  switch  them- 

142 


selves  off,  as  it  were,  from  that  in  which  they  are  engaged 
and  turn  to  the  highest  reality  they  know.  This  would  mean 
but  a  second's  distraction,  and  far  from  injuring  the  work 
in  hand  would  produce  increased  energy  and  power  of  con- 
centration. 

In  the  evening  I  asked  my  students  mentally  to  look 
through  the  day's  proceedings  in  order  to  see  what  was  well 
done  and  what  ill  done,  not  in  order  that  they  should  worry 
over  the  mistakes,  but  that  they  should  take  note  of  them  so 
as  to  strive  to  prevent  them  recurring.  Having  done  this,  I 
asked  them  to  offer  themselves  in  thought  for  such  service  as 
they  might  be  capable  of  performing  during  the  night,  and 
they  were  to  end  by  striving  to  lose  themselves  in  the  thought 
of  their  ideal,  so  that  that  might  carry  them  through  safely 
on  the  astral  plane.  Of  course  there  are  many  other  ways  of 
bringing  about  the  same  result,  but  this  is  not  a  difficult 
method,  and  from  the  experience  I  have  had  I  know  it  can 
be  extraordinarily  successful. 

After  a  time  the  thought  of  the  ideal  becomes  a  habit, 
and  during  the  course  of  the  day  the  individual  tends  auto- 
matically to  refer  to  this  thought  the  various  actions  which 
he  has  in  contemplation.  He  sets  them  by  the  side  of  his  ideal 
and  accepts  or  rejects  them  accordingly.  This  is  a  most  de- 
sirable condition  of  mind,  and  although  it  certainly  takes 
time  to  establish,  it  is  worth  any  amount  of  effort  because, 
through  it,  we  gradually  learn  the  value  and  possibility  of 
laying  our  thought  beside  that  of  the  Master,  a  statement 
which  many  people  find  difficult  to  understand.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  unless  one  has  already  had  practice  in  trying  to  com- 
pare one's  ordinary  thoughts  with  one's  highest  thought,  it  is 
difficult  to  imagine  how  the  Master's  thought  may  similarly  be 
used  for  purposes  of  comparison.  The  process  is  easier  in 
the  East  than  in  the  West,  because  in  the  West  there  is  so 
much  competition  and  hurry  and  rush  that  people  seem 
to  have  hardly  any  time  in  which  to  be  deliberate  and,  above 
all,  in  which  to  draw  down  their  highest  spiritual  conscious- 
ness.   But  sooner  or  later  all  who  mean  business  must  make 

143 


up  their  minds  to  follow  some  such  scheme  as  that  I  have 
outlined  above,  and  they  must  be  willing  to  carry  it  on 
whether  results  show  themselves  or  not.  People  are  far  too 
inclined  to  feel  that  the  system  is  wrong  if  results  do  not 
come  when  they  expect  them,  or  that  they  are  incapable  and 
so  need  not  try  further.  We  have  to  learn  to  be  far  more 
careless  as  to  results  than  we  actually  are — the  motive  is  all- 
important,  and  there  is  nothing  we  cannot  accomplish  if  we 
have  both  the  will  and  an  infinite  power  of  perseverance. 

The  Ignorance  of  Pride 

We  are  then  told  to  hold  back  the  mind  from  pride — 
for,  as  the  Master  says,  "  pride  comes  only  from  ignorance/ ' 
I  do  not  know  what  opportunity  my  readers  have  had  for 
observing  those  who  are  truly  great,  but  for  my  own  part  I 
have  specially  noticed  that  the  greater  the  spiritual  stature 
the  greater  the  true  sense  of  humility.  You  will  find,  for  ex- 
ample, that  Mrs.  Besant  refers  back  to  the  Master  all  her 
successes,  and  recognises  that  it  is  such  ignorance  as  she 
has  that  accounts  for  such  mistakes  as  she  may  make.  In  other 
words  she  is  as  the  "wise  man"  who  "knows  that  only  God 
is  great,  and  that  all  good  work  is  done  by  God  alone ' '  and  by 
"God"  we  can,  if  we  like,  mean  either  the  Master,  or  our 
higher  Self,  or  whatever  our  ideal  may  be.  People  who  are 
proud  are  generally  those  who,  knowing  very  little  wish  to 
make  the  most  of  the  little  they  know,  for  the  more  people 
know  the  more  they  realise  that  they  have  yet  to  learn  many 
things,  and  those  who  know  most  have  the  keenest  sense  of 
their  weaknesses.  I  can  truly  say,  from  my  own  experience, 
that  since  I  have  begun  to  learn  from  my  leaders  I  have  in- 
creasingly realised,  not  only  how  little  I  know,  but  also  how 
many  more  imperfections  I  have  than  I  had  before  thought 
possible.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  if  we  offer  ourselves 
for  the  Master's  service  we  have  to  be  tested  before  we  can 
be  trusted,  and  the  testing  partly  consists  in  making  us  aware 
of  our  weaknesses  so  that  we  may  as  far  as  possible  not  only 
get  rid  of  them,  but  try  to  prevent  them  from  hindering  such 

144 


good  work  as  we  may  be  capable  of  accomplishing.  So  you 
must  not  be  surprised  when  you  start  on  your  life's  true  ca- 
reer— either  by  joining  the  Order  of  the  Star  in  the  East,  or 
the  Servants  of  the  Star,  or  the  Theosophical  Society — if  diffi- 
culties seem  to  multiply  and  if,  somehow  or  other,  life  not 
only  becomes  more  troublesome  but  the  worst  sides  of  your 
nature  seem  to  spring  into  activity.  They  were  there  before 
you  associated  yourself  with  one  of  these  great  spiritual 
movements,  but  they  were  slumbering.  Now  that  you  spring 
forward  and  vitalise  your  higher  nature  you  must  not  be 
surprised  if  the  vitality  flows  through  the  lower  nature  as 
well  and  makes  it  emerge  in  its  true  colours.  People  some- 
times become  depressed  when  this  happens.  They  say  they 
did  not  know  how  wicked  they  were,  or  that  they  did  not 
know  that  would  be  the  effect  of  joining  a  spiritual  movement. 
Sometimes  they  blame  themselves  and  say  that  they  are  un- 
worthy to  join,  but  sometimes,  if  they  are  especially  selfish, 
they  blame  the  movement,  thinking  that  the  movement  is 
really  not  as  spiritual  as  they  had  imagined,  for  otherwise 
how  is  it  that  they  seem  so  much  worse  after  joining  it!  They 
have  not  learned  that  force  is  force,  and  that  it  depends  on 
us  as  to  how  we  use  it.  What  we  gain  from  joining  some 
great  forward  movement  is  added  force,  an  added  force  which 
is  capable  of  being  turned  with  comparative  ease  in  the  right 
direction.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  capable  of  being 
turned  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  we  have,  therefore,  to  be 
careful  not  to  allow  the  lower  nature  to  gain  any  control  of 
the  added  force  which  has  been  given  to  us  through  mem- 
bership of  one  of  these  movements. 

A  great  Teacher  can  give  a  person  power.  It  depends 
upon  the  person  as  to  how  he  uses  that  power.  Indeed,  it  does 
not  at  all  follow  that  he  may  not  sometimes  use  the  power  un- 
wisely, but  this  does  not  mean  that  the  Master  has  made  a 
mistake  in  entrusting  it  to  him.  If  the  Master  sees  that  on 
the  whole  the  power  will  be  used  wisely,  He  may  feel  able  to 
take  the  risk  of  such  unwisdom  as  may  from  time  to  time 
appear.     An  individual  who  joins  the  Order  of  the  Star  in 

145 


the  East,  or  the  Theosophical  Society,  is  in  reality  given  a 
little  added  power,  and  the  force  rushes  through  the  whole 
of  his  nature,  and  it  is  only  if  his  nature  rests  mainly  on  the 
higher  and  not  on  the  lower  that  he  will  be  able  to  maka 
good  use  of  his  membership.  I  have  always  thought  that 
people  would  not  probably  be  allowed,  save  for  some  special 
reason,  to  join  one  of  these  movements,  because  of  the  added 
responsibility  involved,  unless  there  seemed  to  be  a  fair  cer- 
tainty of  the  force  being  used  for  the  good  purposes  on  the 
whole  and  only  rarely  in  the  wrong  way.  Mistakes  we  must 
make,  and  when  we  join  one  of  these  movements  we  shall 
probably  make  more  mistakes  than  before,  but  on  the  other 
hand  we  may  hope  to  do  more  good  than  before,  and  grad- 
ually we  shall  learn  through  the  mistakes  to  direct  the  force 
more  and  more  wisely.  But  pride  is  a  fatal  barrier  to  the  useful 
exercise  of  spiritual  capacity.  Those  who  are  proud,  even 
of  their  spiritual  knowledge,  are  of  comparatively  little  use. 
I  have  been  told  that  it  is  impossible  entirely  to  get  rid  of 
pride  until  very  far  up  in  the  evolutionary  scale,  but  we 
must  make  a  beginning  now  and  do  all  we  can  to  realise,  not 
only  how  little  we  ourselves  individually  know,  but  how 
little  there  is  we  really  know  of  even  those  around  us.  So 
our  advice  must  always  be  very  tentative.  As  has  been  said 
in  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master,  only  the  Master  knows  about 
His  people.  Only  the  Master  knows  a  man's  motives,  and 
it  is  motives  which  count  more  than  anything  else  in  the 
spiritual  world.  I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  by  this  that  actions 
do  not  matter.  Actions  matter  on  their  own  plane,  but  mo- 
tives matter  even  more  than  actions.  There  is  karma  from 
both,  but  the  karma  of  motive  is  more  powerful  than  the 
karma  of  action. 


146 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE  SIX  POINTS  OF  CONDUCT—  (Continued) 

We  now  turn  to  the  consideration  of  Self-Control  in 
Action.  The  Master  remarks  that  thought  alone  will  not 
suffice ;  there  must  be  no  laziness  in  action ;  but  He  points  out 
that  we  must  not  therefore  try  to  do  other  people's  work 
as  well  as  our  own,  unless  we  are  asked  to  help.  As  He  says : 
"For  many  people  the  most  difficult  thing  in  the  world  to 
learn  is  to  mind  their  own  business."  People  seem  to  find 
it  very  difficult  to  understand  that  if  they  try  to  do  other 
people's  work  they  are  preventing  those  people  from  evolv- 
ing as  rapidly  as  they  might.  People  grow  through  the  work 
they  do,  and  if  you  try  to  do  so  much  that  you  prevent  other 
people  from  exerting  themselves  to  the  utmost,  not  only  will 
you  do  your  own  work  badly  but  you  will  be  stultifying  the 
growth  of  those  around  you.  It  should  be  clearly  understood 
that  the  true  leader  is  he  who  helps  other  people  to  work 
along  their  own  lines  more  successfully.  It  is  not  so  much  a 
question  of  what  the  leader  himself  does  as  the  extent  to 
which  he  inspires  other  people  to  do  things.  If  he  helps  them 
to  take  a  more  active  part  in  life,  to  feel  more  vital,  to  feel 
more  interested  in  their  work — then  he  is  truly  leading  and 
guiding.  But  if  when  he  takes  up  a  piece  of  work  he  centers 
it  all  in  himself,  and  makes  other  people  feel  that  they  are 
entirely  dependent  on  him  for  all  originative  effort,  he  is  one 
of  those  who  do  not  know  how  to  mind  their  own  business.  We 
are  often  told  that  none  of  us  are  indispensable,  and  the  reason 
we  are  not  indispensable  is  that  there  are  always  people  to 
do  the  work  if  the  work  has  to  be  done.  We  need  to  have 
among  us  people  who  will  try  to  understand  what  it  is  that 
those  around  them  have  to  do,  and,  while  doubtless  being  in 
general  charge  of  a  special  piece  of  work,  they  will  take  care  to 

147 


be  behind  the  scenes  as  much  as  possible,  and  to  give  everyone 
about  them  the  opportunity  of  growing  through  independent, 
and  yet  harmonious,  action.  This  is  what  I  think  is  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Master's  statement  that  we  should  leave  every 
man  to  do  his  own  work  in  his  own  way.  Of  course  we  should 
be  ready  to  give  help  when  asked  or  when  needed,  but  it  is 
far  better  for  people,  as  a  general  rule,  to  learn  through  the 
making  of  mistakes,  and  to  feel  themselves  free  agents  within 
reasonable  limits.  It  is  of  course  true  that  in  times  of  emer- 
gency the  leader  may  have  to  take  full  control  and  demand 
from  his  followers  obedience  rather  than  initiative.  But  such 
times  are  rare  and  in  most  cases  what  we  have  to  stimulate 
is  initiative  and  the  sense  of  independent,  yet  co-operative, 
capacity. 

"The  Daily  Round,  the  Daily  Task" 

Then  the  Master  observes  that  however  much  we  may  be 
interested  in  what  is  called  "higher  work"  we  must  not  neg- 
lect the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  Indeed,  upon  the  fulfilling 
of  these  ordinary  duties  depends  our  progress  and  our  use- 
fulness. If  we  cannot  do  the  ordinary  things  well  we  are  not 
likely  to  do  well  what  are  called  the  "higher  things."  Just 
for  the  time  being,  under  the  influence  of  their  glamour,  we 
may  put  our  energies  into  them,  and  so  appear  to  do  them 
better  than  the  ordinary  things.  But  the  glamour  will  not 
last,  and  if  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  ordinary  things 
badly  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  course  of  time  doing  the 
higher  things  badly  too.  And  it  is  much  more  serious  to  do 
the  higher  things  badly  even  than  to  do  the  ordinary  things 
in  a  slipshod  manner.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  of  course, 
that  there  is  very  little  distinction  to  be  drawn  between  the' 
higher  and  the  lower.  We  learn  to  grow  as  rapidly  through 
the  performance  of  the  humblest  duty  as  we  do  through  the 
accomplishment  of  higher  tasks.  The  Master  tells  us  that 
until  the  ordinary  duties  of  life  are  done  we  are  not  free  for 
other  service.  Notice  that  He  uses  the  word  "other"  and  not 
"higher."     We  have  been  told,  in  fact,  that  until  an  indi- 

148 


vidual  gets  rid  of  the  more  obstructive  portions  of  his  karma 
he  is  not  free  to  undertake  the  burdens  of  discipleship.  And 
the  only  way  to  get  rid  of  obstructive  karma: — indeed  of  any 
karma — is  to  try  to  do  the  little  things  as  well  as  possible. 
Of  course  little  things  seem  rather  humdrum  and  uninterest- 
ing, but  while  they  seem  so  to  us,  we  must  remember  that  we 
should  soon  lose  our  interest  in  the  "higher  things' '  if  we 
had  the  opportunity.  It  is  only  while  they  seem  new  and 
out  of  the  ordinary  that  our  attention  is  turned  more  di- 
rectly toward  them,  and  so  in  fact  we  prove  that  our  attention 
turns  more  to  that  which  excites  us  than  to  that  which  needs 
doing.  Until  the  attention  is  so  trained  that  it  turns  automatic- 

Ially  to  that  which  needs  doing,  we  have  not  gone  very  far. 
Hence  we  must  try  to  remember  that  the  little  things  are  the 
stepping  stones  to  bigger  things.  I  have  no  doubt  that  what  I 
am  writing  here  does  not  sound  particularly  interesting,  or 
helpful,  or  inspiring.  I  can  hear  my  readers  exclaiming  there 
is  so  much  more  drudgery  in  making  progress  than  they  had 
thought.  Perfectly  true !  There  is  a  great  deal  of  drudgery 
until  we  begin  to  realise  in  fact  that  nothing  is  drudgery. 
We  have  none  of  us  yet  reached  that  stage,  but  the  great 
principle  of  life  is  that  nothing  which  is  needed  to  be  done 
has  in  it  the  essence  of  drudgery.  Such  drudgery  as  there 
seems  to  be  is  due  to  our  ignorance,  and  to  the  fact  that  for 

I  many  of  us  nothing  seems  worth  while  save  that  which  causes 
an  unusual  excitation  of  the  astral  or  mental  bodies. 
. 
8 
v 
t 


Concentration  of  Energy 


We  are  then  told  that  we  should  undertake  no  new 
worldly  duties.  I  do  not  suppose  that  this  means  that  we 
are  never  to  attempt  anything  fresh  but,  rather,  that  it  is 
very  unwise  to  keep  on  trying  to  take  up  new  work,  to  ex- 
tend our  attention  to  new  interests,  when  we  are  not  really 
fulfilling  our  duty  to  the  work  and  to  the  interests  we  have 
already  in  hand.  Many  people  always  wish,  for  example,  to 
belong  to  everything  new,  to  join  every  new  movement,  to 
take  part  in  every  possible  new  activity.     The  result  is  that 

149 


they  fritter  their  energies  away,  and  neither  give  to  these 
activities,  nor  receive  from  them,  that  which  should  be  the 
result — an  increase  of  vital  power,  both  to  the  movement  and 
to  the  individual.  On  the  other  hand  if  one  feels  that  one 
can  help  some  new  activity  by  taking  part  in  it,  there  is  no 
reason  why  one  should  not  join  it  after  careful  consideration 
as  to  the  amount  of  time  we  can  place  at  its  disposal,  and  as 
to  whether  such  amount  of  time  would  be  an  adequate  ful- 
filment of  any  obligation  involved.  In  other  words  one  must 
proceed  deliberately,  and  not  take  on  new  worldly  duties 
simply  in  order  to  be  "in"  with  everybody  else,  and  to  get 
as  much  as  we  can  from  them.  We  must  not  forget  that  there 
is  the  karma  of  wow-fulfilment  of  obligations,  whether  the 
obligations  be  undertaken  deliberately  or  lightly.  The  link 
is  made,  and  we  must  not  imagine  that  we  can  avoid  our 
karmic  responsibility  if  we  drop  the  activity  when  we  no 
longer  feel  interested.  In  a  word  we  must  do  as  much  as  we 
can  and  not  more  than  we  ought.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is 
that  those  of  us  who  mean  business,  and  who  are  striving  to 
get  into  touch  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  great  Teachers, 
have  to  remember  that  the  Master  tells  us  that  we  have  to  do 
ordinary  work  better  than  other  people  do  it.  If  we  perform 
our  duties  no  better  than  other  people  perform  theirs  we 
should  not  be  worthy  of  the  special  tie  we  hope  to  make  be- 
tween ourselves  and  the  Elder  Brethren.  Indeed,  every  hu- 
man being  has  his  tie  with  an  Elder  Brother,  but  if  we  want 
to  make  our  respective  ties  stronger  and  brighter,  we  must 
show  our  worthiness,  and  in  order  to  show  our  worthiness  we 
must  live  more  intensely  and  more  vigorously,  with  more 
attention  to  detail.  Any  who  have  had  the  privi- 
lege of  watching  the  Masters  at  work  will  know  how  extra- 
ordinarily careful  They  are  with  regard  to  the  slightest  and, 
apparently,  most  trivial  details.  Not  a  moment  is  wasted  and 
every  moment  is  used  to  its  fullest  extent,  and  with  it  all 
there  is  no  appearance  of  rush  or  hurry.  On  the  contrary 
there  is  every  indication  of  calm,  strength,  and  power,  be- 
cause there  is  no  waste.     "Waste  inevitably  means  weakness 

150 


and  looseness  of  purpose,  and  a  dulling  of  faculty.  So  it  is 
not  so  much  a  question  of  the  kind  of  work  that  is  done  as 
the  way  in  which  it  is  done,  and  the  man  who  manages  affairs 
of  State  lazily  and  carelessly  has  much  to  learn  from  the 
crossing-sweeper  who  is  careful  to  keep  in  the  utmost  clean- 
liness the  crossing  upon  whose  cleanliness  his  attention  is 
concentrated.  As  the  Master  says :  "If  you  are  to  be  His, 
you  must  do  ordinary  work  better  than  others,  not  worse; 
because  you  must  do  that  also  for  His  sake." 

True  Independence 

I  should  like  to  lay  special    stress  upon    the  Master's 

I  statement  that  the  work  that  we  must  do  must  be  work  that 
one  recognises  as  part  of  one's  duty  and  not  the  imaginary 
duties  which  others  think  we  ought  to  perform.     There  are 
many  people  in  the  world  to-day  who  are  trying  to  make 
other  people  do  that  which  they  conceive  to  be  the  duty  of 
these  other  people.    They  seem  to  know  so  much  better  what 
is  good  for  others  than  they  know  what  is  good  for  them- 
selves.   The  position  is  obviously  absurd,  but  we  have  become 
so  much  dependent  upon  outside  opinion  that  we  are  much 
more  likely  to  pay  attention  to  another's  views  with  regard 
to  our  duties  than  we  should  be  likely  to  hearken  to  any  per- 
sonal intuition.    Obviously,  when  people    are    quite    young 
it    is    the    duty    of    parents    and    teachers    to    help    them 
discover   what   are   their   individual    duties,    and    sometimes 
t    may    even   be    necessary    to    impose    duties   upon    them, 
lut  teachers  and  parents  should  be  extremely  careful  not  to 
ake  their  charges  think  that  parents  and  teachers  inevitably 
low   better    what  is    good    for  children  than  the    children 
emselves  can  know.    In  the  long  run  each  individual  must 
»e  a  law  unto  himself,  and  the  duty  of  the  parent  or  teacher 
to  help  the  boy  or  girl  to  find  out  what  their  particular 
iW  is.     In  other  words  it  is  their  duty  to  stimulate  the  dis- 
criminative power  of  those  placed  in  their  charge,  and  not  to 
impose  their  own  discriminative  faculties  upon  them.     Chil- 
dren who  have  not  been  trained  to  think  and  act  for  them- 

151 


selves  are  of  very  little  use  in  the  world,  and  are  much  at  the 
mercy  of  the  opinions  and  influences  of  their  surroundings, 
and  depend  for  their  actions  upon  the  advice  and  opinion  of 
their  friends.  "We  have  to  learn  not  to  believe  things  be- 
cause other  people  believe  them,  or  to  perform  action  in  a 
particular  way  just  because  other  people  perform  them  in 
that  way.  We  have  to  become  independent,  and  to  learn  that 
true  independence  by  no  means  involves  antagonism.  So 
many  people  are  inclined  to  believe  that  you  cannot  be  truly 
independent  unless  you  are  rude  and  disagreeable,  unless 
you  deliberately  try  to  do  things  in  ways  entirely  different 
from  the  ways  in  which  other  people  do  them.  It  is  sometimes 
thought  that  you  must  strike  out  a  fresh  note  for  yourself.  I  do 
not  object  to  the  phrase  provided  the  note  is  a  harmonious  one, 
but  if  it  be  discord,  then,  unless  there  be  some  specially  strong 
motive  for  its  existence,  it  had  better  not  appear.  With  re- 
gard to  the  question,  for  example,  of  religious  observance,  I 
think  it  highly  desirable  that  every  boy  and  girl  should  be 
trained  in  the  beliefs  and  ceremonies  of  the  faith  into  which 
they  have  been  born,  but  I  also  think  it  most  important  that 
parents  and  teachers  should  explain  to  children  that  they  are 
given  these  ceremonies  and  beliefs,  which  have  been  very 
helpful  to  large  numbers  of  people,  only  until  they  find  out 
something  which  may  perhaps  be  more  appropriate  to  their 
particular  temperaments.  I  should  never  think  it  my  duty 
to  try  and  make  a  child  believe  that  any  special  form,  or  any 
special  truth,  is  the  only  form  or  truth  he  ought  to  accept. 
Since  karma  has  brought  him  within  the  teaching  of  certain 
definite  forms  of  truth,  he  may  as  well  grow  up  in  them,  but 
a  loophole  should  always  be  left  for  his  judgment,  so  that 
he  may  feel  that  he  can  act  freely  without  becoming  a 
traitor  either  to  his  elders  or  to  his  traditions.  There  is  no 
reason  why  a  child  who  begins  as  a  Hindu  should  not  be  a 
Christian  later,  if  he  feels  irresistibly  impelled,  but  if  he  is 
born  a  Hindu  he  had  better  remain  one  until  he  has  arrived  at 
maturity  of  judgment  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  decide 
whether  he  wishes  to  make  a  change.     There  is  never  any 

152 


harm  in  training  a  child  to  understand  the  forms  and  truths 
which  have  been  helpful  to  a  large  number  of  people,  for  such 
training  will  bring  into  being  a  sympathy  which  will  enable 
him  later  on  to  help,  even  though  he,  himself,  finds  other  forms 
and  other  truths  more  appropriate  to  his  own  special  line  of 
evolution. 

Tolerance 

All  this  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  third  point 
of  Conduct,  namely  Tolerance.  Above  all  the  Master  lays 
stress  on  the  need  for  our  feeling  a  hearty  interest  in  the  be- 
liefs of  those  of  another  religion.  Religious  differences  have 
done  an  infinite  amount  of  harm  in  the  world,  and  now  we 
have  to  begin  to  realise  that  religious  differences  should  no 
longer  imperil  the  real  unity  beneath.  As  the  Master  re- 
marks: "Their  religion  is  a  path  to  the  highest  just  as  yours 
is,"  and  then  He  says  what  is  probably  at  the  back  of  His 
mind  through  the  whole  of  these  teachings:  "To  help  all, 
you  must  understand  all."  This  is  indeed  the  keynote  of  the 
teaching.  Every  word  that  is  written  in  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  is  intended  to  give  the  reader  power  to  be  of  more 
service  to  those  around  him.  If  you  wish  to  belong  to  the 
Master  you  must  be  able  to  go  anywhere  and  do  anything. 
You  must  be  able  to  help  all  kinds  of  people,  you  must  be 
able  to  adapt  yourself  to  all  kinds  of  circumstances,  and  to 
sympathise  practically  with  troubles  which  perhaps  you  have 
never  yourself  experienced.  In  order  to  be  free  to  serve  in 
this  way  you  must  take  care  that  you  yourself  are  not  bound 
by  the  very  fetters  from  which  you  seek  to  free  others.  If 
you  yourself  think  that  your  religion  is  the  only  true  religion, 
if  you  yourself  think  that  your  customs  are  the  only  useful 
customs,  if  you  think  that  your  nation  is  the  only  truly 
great  nation,  if  you  think  that  your  modes  of  life  are  the 
only  really  useful  modes  of  life — then  you  yourself  are  a 
blind  man,  however  much  you  may  be  trying  to  help  others 
as  blind  as  yourself.  As  the  Master  tells  us,  we  must  "be 
free  from  bigotry  and  superstition."  This  does  not  mean  that 

153 


everyone  must  be  free  from  bigotry  and  superstition,  but 
rather  that  those  who  wish  to  be  servants  of  the  Master  must 
themselves  be  free  from  conditions  which  would  hamper  their 
activity,  however  much  these  conditions  may  help  other  people. 
At  certain  stages,  no  doubt,  bigotry  and  superstition  are  inevi- 
table. They  are  the  scaffolding  by  means  of  which  the  build- 
ing is  erected.  But  when  the  building  is  completed  there  is 
no  further  need  for  the  scaffolding,  and  our  own  spiritual 
building  should  be  in  such  a  forward  state  that  these 
two  pieces  of  scaffolding  can  usefully  be  dispensed  with.  For 
you  and  me  most  ordinary  ceremonies  are  no  longer  necessary, 
that  is  to  say  such  ceremonies  are  no  longer  necessary  for 
those  who  may  expect  to  be  taken  within  a  comparatively 
short  time  as  apprentices  in  a  Master's  school.  We  may  take 
part  in  them  if  we  like;  we  may  enjoy  them:  but  they  must 
cease  to  be  necessary  parts  of  our  existence,  otherwise,  as  the 
Master  points  out,  we  shall  think  ourselves  in  some  way  better 
than  the  people  who  do  not  perform  the  special  kind  of  cere- 
mony which  interests  us. 

Here  again  the  Master's  statement  is  not  meant  to  convey 
to  us  that  no  one  should  perform  any  ceremonies.  Remember 
He  is  addressing  one  already  a  pupil  in  His  school  and  there- 
fore subject  to  very  special  teaching.  Ceremonies  may  pos- 
sibly be  necessary  for  some  of  us,  and,  indeed,  for  most,  but 
it  is  laid  down  that  they  are  no  longer  necessary  for  those  who 
are  being  specially  trained.  You  will  obviously  be  wrong  to 
feel  contempt  for  those  who  still  need  them.  The  Masters 
feel  no  contempt  for  our  colossal  ignorance  in  many  very  es- 
sential matters.  They  desire  to  help  us  where  we  stand,  and 
this  should  be  our  attitude  towards  those  less  evolved  than 
ourselves.  We  must  try  to  help  people  where  they  are  and 
through  their  own  special  lines  of  growth.  This  is  why  it  is 
so  very  necessary  to  "understand  all."  In  other  words,  be- 
fore anyone  can  become  a  pupil  of  the  Master  he  must  have 
passed  in  previous  lives  through  such  a  wide  series  of  experi- 
ences as  may  enable  him  intuitively  to  grasp  the  varied  condi- 
tions and  stages  of  belief  even  though  he,  himself,  may  not 

154 


actually  have  passed  through  these  conditions.  He  must  have 
acquired  the  spirit  of  the  experience,  though,  he  may  not, 
necessarily,  have  passed  through  the  individual  form.  But 
again  we  must  take  care  that  people  do  not  try  to  force  upon 
us  things  which  they  know  to  be  essential  to  themselves  and 
which  they  think,  therefore,  to  be  equally  essential  to  us.  Peo- 
ple often  strive  to  do  this.  They  feel  so  greatly  the  need  of  a 
certain  experience  themselves  that  they  cannot  imagine  for  a 
moment  how  it  is  that  other  people  do  not  need  it  equally, 
and  in  this  way  have  arisen  the  Inquisition  and  other  forms 
of  narrow  cruelty.  People  must  not  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  us  in  the  performance  of  what  we  conceive  to  be  our 
duty,  however  much  that  duty  may  differ  from  the  duties  of 
those  around  us.  But  while  we  must  insist  upon  our 
rights,  nevertheless  we  must  "make  allowance  for  everything; 
be  kindly  towards  everything. ' ' 


155 


CHAPTER   XVII 
THE  SIX  POINTS  OF  CONDUCT— (Continued) 

One  of  the  most  informing  similes  in  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  is  where  the  Master  tells  us  that  many  customs,  cere- 
monies, and  beliefs,  which  individually  we  may  have  out- 
grown, may  still  be  needed  by  large  numbers  of  people,  just 
as  children  need  double  lines  to  help  them  to  write  straightly 
and  evenly  until  they  have  learned  to  write  better  without 
them.  The  position  is,  as  the  Master  explains,  that  we  must 
remain  in  sympathetic  touch  with  those  who  possibly  may 
not  have  yet  reached  our  level  of  evolution.  "He  who  has 
forgotten  his  childhood  and  lost  sympathy  with  the  children 
is  not  the  man  who  can  teach  them  or  help  them."  There 
is  a  very  general  tendency  on  the  part  of  people  as  they  grow 
older  to  become  impatient  with  children  and  to  find  no  in- 
terest in  the  ways  in  which  children  live.  Children's  inter- 
ests cease  to  interest  them,  and  gradually  they  drift  into 
what  I  may  call  a  crabbed  old  age,  out  of  touch  with  the  as- 
pirations and  impulses  of  the  younger  generation,  and  con- 
vinced that  everything  is  gradually  going  wrong.  Many 
middle-aged  people  are  convinced  that  in  their  young  days 
everything  was  very  much  better  than  it  is  now. 
They  feel  quite  certain  that  children  were  brought 
up  in  a  better  way,  that  the  government  of  the 
country  was  less  vacillating  and  weak,  that  there  was  less 
license  and  more  true  liberty.  They  feel  that  people  no  longer 
know  their  place.  The  fact  is  that  these  middle-aged  and  old 
people  do  not  know  their  place.  In  other  words,  they  have 
lost  their  place  and  cannot  find  it,  and  the  result  is  that  they 
feel  out  of  harmony  with  the  world  which  has  really  left 
them  far  behind. 

156 


The  Need  for  Adaptability 

Now  this  attitude  will  not  do.  The  older  we  grow,  the 
more  we  must  make  every  effort  to  keep  in  touch  with  the 
young,  to  be  young  with  them,  and,  above  all  to  realise  that 
the  ideals  which  have  sufficed  for  our  generation  need  not 
necessarily  be  the  ideals  appropriate  to  the  new.  The  fact 
of  the  matter  is  that  a  true  server  must  do  all  he  can  to  adapt 
himself  to  the  ever-changing  conditions  necessitated  by  the 
world's  growth.  I  consider  that  one  of  Mrs.  Besant's  most 
remarkable  characteristics  is  that  she  understands  young  peo- 
ple and  is  able  to  voice  their  aspirations.  She  unites  the  wis- 
dom of  age  with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  and  so  you  will  find 
her  always  in  the  forefront  of  all  new  movements — restrain- 
ing impetuous  and  inexperienced  ardour,  but  not  hindering 
good  work.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Leadbeater:  in- 
deed all  true  helpers  of  the  world  have  this  special  character- 
istic of  being  able  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  the  time  and  of  re- 
sponding to  the  changing  needs  of  the  world.  This  means 
of  course  an  intuitive  and  adaptable  temperament;  we  must 
ever  be  on  the  alert  to  discover  the  signs  of  the  times  and  to 
understand  in  the  aspirations  of  youth  the  dawning  of  the 
New  Age.  The  older  a  person  grows  the  more  valuable  be- 
comes his  experience,  and  the  more  therefore  he  should  be 
revered  and  honoured,  provided  he  places  his  experience  at 
the  disposal  of  those  who  have  not  yet  had  time  to  acquire  it. 
You  should  remember  always  that  the  world  in  its  future 
condition  belongs  to  the  coming  generation,  and  all  we  have 
to  do  is  to  help  the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new  to  be 
as  easy  and  simple  as  possible.  The  French  Revolution  was 
largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the  older  generation  had  no  un- 
derstanding of  the  new.  They  came  into  terrific  conflict,  and 
the  result  was  a  transition  period  of  terrible  suffering.  Just 
at  present  we  are  in  a  similar  transition  stage,  and  much  de- 
pends upon  the  wisdom  and  co-operation  of  the  elders.  We 
must  unceasingly  study  the  lines  of  thought  of  the  young 
people.    We  must  ever  be  on  the  alert  to  watch  for  the  signs 

157 


of  the  new  conditions  which  may  manifest  themselves  in  the 
lives  of  the  younger  generation.  We  must  keep  ourselves 
up  to  date,  and  must  give  not  a  sneer  but  a  welcome  to  the 
new  order  which  is  taking  the  place  of  the  old.  It  is  all  a 
question  of  sympathy  and  realisation  that  other  people's 
ways  may  be  just  as  helpful  as,  possibly  more  helpful  than, 
our  own.  Above  all,  if  we  are  in  the  position  of  having  out- 
grown certain  customs  and  beliefs  appropriate  to  the  world 
as  a  whole,  we  must  not  therefore  imagine  that  everybody  else 
has  also  outgrown  such  customs  and  beliefs.  Our  business  is 
to  help  people  where  they  are,  and  not  to  force  them  along  a 
line  for  which  they  are  not  yet  ready.  It  must  of  course  be  con- 
ceded that,  for  the  sake  of  example,  one  might  occasionally  feel 
it  one's  duty  to  associate  oneself  with  some  special  custom  or 
belief.  For  example,  if  I  were  living  in  the  country  I  might 
find  it  helpful  to  go  regularly  to  church,  not  so  much  for  my 
own  sake  as  for  the  sake  of  those  for  whom  church  ought  to 
mean  much  spiritual  guidance.  But  I  must  not  be  bound  by 
customs  or  beliefs  which  I  have  outgrown,  although  I  may,  if 
it  is  desirable,  occasionally  clothe  myself  in  them. 

Cheerfulness 

The  Master  then  lays  stress  upon  Cheerfulness,  and  He 
tells  us  many  important  truths.  In  the  first  place  we  have  to 
try  to  understand  that  it  is  an  honour  that  suffering  comes  to 
us.  I  presume  that  He  means  here  that  it  is  an  honour  if 
suffering  comes  to  us  in  larger  doses  than  would  normally 
be  the  case,  for  all  suffering  is  of  course  the  result  of  past 
actions,  so  from  this  standpoint  it  is  hardly  a  matter  of 
1  honour'  or  dishonour,  but  a  matter  of  law.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  we  offer  ourselves  to  the  Master,  such  suffering  as  we  need 
for  the  purpose  of  purification  becomes  concentrated 
within  a  comparatively  short  time  so  that  we  may 
get  rid  as  quickly  as  possible  of  our  evil  Karma. 
As  the  Master  says,  in  this  way  we  work  through  in  one  or 
two  lives  that  which  might  otherwise  have  been  spread  over 
a  hundred.     Until  we  have  got  rid  of  the  most  obstructive 

158 


portion  of  our  Karma  we  are  not  free  to  share  with  our 
Teacher  the  burden  of  the  world.  Our  shoulders  must  be 
comparatively  free  of  past  Karma  if  we  are  to  go  into  the 
world  and  stand  side  by  side  with  those  who  need  our  help. 
This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  before  we  can  become 
pupils  we  must  exhaust  practically  all  obstructive  Karma. 
Not  only  is  this  not  the  case,  but,  on  the  contrary,  our  debts 
come  tumbling  down  upon  us  when  we  offer  ourselves  for 
service.  But  they  are  not  debts  which  stand  hopelessly  in  the 
way  of  continued  service.  Debts  which  bar  us  from  prac- 
tically any  strenuous  service  must  first  be  got  rid  of,  for,  if 
we  would  offer  ourselves  to  the  Master  there  must  be  some- 
thing worth  offering.  So  we  must  be  comparatively  free  from 
burdens,  as  I  have  said.  But  it  would  be  very  foolish  to  ex- 
pect lives  of  ease :  on  the  contrary,  there  will  be  lives  of  ex- 
ceeding difficulty,  but  it  would  be  unwise  to  complain.  We 
have  offered  to  pay  our  debts  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  if 
this  works  out  in  pain  we  must  not  be  surprised.  We  shall 
the  sooner  be  free,  although  the  process  may,  for  the  time 
being,  be  agonising. 

The  Master  tells  us  that,  however  hard  our  Karma  is, 
we  should  be  thankful  that  it  is  not  worse.  I  must  confess 
that  one  very  often  cannot  see  how  it  possibly  could  be 
worse !    But  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  may  be  to  a  certain  ex- 

Itent  a  comfort  to  think  this.  I  try  to  imagine  that  it  might 
be  worse,  so  that  I  may  realise  that,  however  far  down  I  may 
be,  I  am  not  actually  at  the  bottom !  All  I  would  say,  how- 
ever, is  that  it  would  seem  in  some  ways  almost  more  satis- 
factory if  one  could  feel  that  one  were  at  the  bottom,  so  as  to 
know  that  things  could  not  be  worse  than  they  are.  If  you 
are  thankful  that  things  are  not  worse  you  may  possibly  be 
wondering  whether  in  a  short  time  they  may  not  become  so. 
What  of  course  the  Master  wishes  us  to  understand  is  that 
we  must  keep  cheerful  and  always  look  on  the  bright  side  of 
things.  Part  of  the  payment  of  our  karmic  debts  consists 
in  paying  them  cheerfully:  our  karmic  enemies  soon  cease 
to  trouble  us  if  we  take  their  hostility — our  OAvn  creation — 


159 


cheerfully  and  good-humouredly.  Perhaps  we  can  do  this 
more  satisfactorily  if  we  continually  try  to  realise  that  all  that 
comes  to  us  is  part  of  the  inevitable  training  that  we  have  to 
go  through  as  we  proceed  from  un-consciousness  to  self-con- 
sciousness. 

The  Master  then  goes  on  to  observe  that  we  must  give 
up  all  feeling  of  possession,  because  "possession"  is  an  aspect 
of  the  lower  nature.  The  higher  Self  expresses  itself  through 
the  sense  of  Unity;  the  lower  through  a  sense  of  possession. 
Hence  the  Master  urges  us  to  get  rid  of  this  feeling  because 
by  so  doing  we  get  rid  of  that  which  obstructs.  He  points 
out  that  karma  may  take  from  us  even  the  people  whom  we 
love  most.  That  is  to  say,  karma  may  appear  to  take  them 
from  us;  we  can  never  lose  that  which  we  have  drawn  into 
the  universal  Unity.  Loss  is  entirely  of  the  lower  planes. 
It  is  an  illusion,  although  I  know  full  well  it  is  an  illusion 
which  causes  an  infinite  amount  of  suffering.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  the  physical  plane  exerts  its  inevitable 
plane  influence,  and  a  physical  plane  loss  cannot  but  be 
felt  while  we  are  for  the  time  being  immersed  in  physical 
plane  matter.  But  however  hard  the  parting  may  be,  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  is  a  real  parting.  Personally,  the 
more  I  learn,  the  more  I  find  that  physical  plane  partings 
are  less  depressing  as  I  establish  myself  more  firmly  in  the 
larger  life.  A  physical  plane  parting  undoubtedly  has  its 
disturbing  features,  but  the  more  we  live  in  the  Masters' 
world,  the  more  we  definitely  find  that  those  whom  we  love 
are  in  reality  always  with  us,  and  every  parting  is  intended 
to  bring  this  lesson  home  to  us. 

The  Master  concludes  His  observations  on  cheerfulness 
by  re-asserting  the  truth  that  depression  is  wicked.  He  ob- 
serves that  He  often  needs  to  use  His  servants  in  order  to 
pour  force  through  them  for  the  helping  of  others,  and  He 
remarks  that  He  cannot  do  this  if  we  yield  to  depression 
because  depression  builds  a  black  wall  round  us  through 
which  little  comfort  may  come  from  outside,  and  through 
which  little  of  the  Master's  light  can  pierce  into  the  outer 

160 


world.  It  is  worth  while  to  remember  that  depression  is  as 
often  caused  either  by  an  unhealthy  body  or  by  outside  cir- 
cumstances as  it  is  caused  by  some  disturbance  of  our  own 
centers  of  life.  We  must  not  therefore  conclude  that  be- 
cause we  are  depressed,  therefore  the  depression  comes  from 
within.  To  help  to  guard  against  depression  it  is  necessary 
to  have  as  healthy  a  body  as  possible  and  to  take  care  that 
it  keeps  healthy.  When  our  nervous  system  becomes  de- 
vitalised through  over-strain  or  through  some  other  form  of 
ill-health,  then  cheerfulness  is  more  difficult  to  maintain, 
because  the  channels  of  communication  with  the  Master's 
world  are,  for  the  time  being,  out  of  repair.  Similarly,  we 
must  guard  against  disturbances  from  the  outside.  Many 
thoughts  and  feelings  which  appear  to  be  ours  are,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  visitors,  and  we  ought  to  try  to  imagine  as  far 
as  we  can  that  all  undesirable  thoughts  and  feelings  are 
visitors,  and  that  we  can  turn  them  out  if  we  like.  Never 
let  us  suppose  that  any  thought  or  feeling  is  an  inalienable 
part  of  our  nature. 

One-Pointedness 

We  now  go  on  to  One-Pointedness,  which  means 
the  Master's  work.  Everything,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
which  is  helpful  and  unselfish  is  the  Master's  work. 
We  must  not  imagine  that  only  work  connected  with  the 
Order  of  the  Star  in  the  East,  or  with  the  Theosophical  So- 
ciety, is  the  Master's  work.  Living  helpfully  at  home  is 
just  as  much  the  Master's  work.  Playing  our  games  well, 
studying  well,  are  just  as  much  the  Master's  work.  People 
sometimes  wish  they  could  do  more  in  the  Master's  service 
than  for  the  moment  seems  possible.  They  say  their  karma 
is  against  them !  karma,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  never  against 
anybody,  for  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  stepping  stone  to  the 
higher  life — we  spring  to  a  higher  position  from  the  spring- 
ing-board  which  our  karma  has  fashioned  for  us.  However 
lonely  you  may  be,  however  isolated  from  Theosophical  sur- 
roundings, you  can  none  the  less  do  the  Master's  work,  and 

161 


the  Master's  work  consists  in  the  way  in  which  you  do  that 
which  comes  to  you  to  do  day  by  day.  Everything  that 
comes  to  us,  of  however  trivial  a  nature,  is  a  little  piece  of 
training  specially  given  to  us  to  bring  us  nearer  to  the 
Master's  world.  You  and  I  may  not  be  able  to  realise  this, 
We  may  wonder  how  an  apparently  trivial  piece  of  busi- 
ness can  possibly  have  any  relation  to  the  Master.  A  clerk 
in  an  office,  for  example,  may  wonder  how  writing  an  un- 
important letter  on  behalf  of  his  firm  can  possibly  be  of  ser- 
vice to  the  Master.  As  a  matter  of  fact  if  he  can  write  that  un- 
important letter  well,  he  will  be  able  to  write  a  less  unimport- 
ant letter  well,  till  the  time  will  come  when  he  can  write  im- 
portant letters  well,  and  some  day  he  will  perhaps  have  the 
opportunity  of  writing  the  Master's  letters  well.  Every  act 
of  life  is  a  step  on  the  ladder  of  evolution,  and  leads  prac- 
tically to  the  step  next  above.  No  matter  what  the  act  may 
be,  it  is  a  step  nearer  than  the  act  before  it,  and  definitely  leads 
to  the  step  beyond.  The  fact  is  that  every  action  be- 
comes part  of  the  Master's  work  if  we  remember  Him  while 
doing  it.  Try  to  understand,  therefore,  that  the  nature  of 
the  action  is  of  no  importance;  what  matters  is  your  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  the  Master  watches  everything  you  do 
and  in  this  way  makes  everything  you  do  a  possible  link  be- 
tween Him  and  yourself. 

The  rest  of  the  remarks  on  one-pointedness  merely  em- 
phasise the  need  for  realising  that  every  day  of  your  life 
can  so  be  used  that  it  shall  draw  us  appreciably  nearer  to 
our  Master.  As  the  Master  says,  we  "must  become  one 
with  the  Path,"  and  the  Path  is  everywhere.  People  some- 
times think  that  the  Path  is  nowhere  save  at  the  headquarters 
of  the  Lodge  to  which  they  belong,  and  that  they  are  only 
treading  the  Path  when  they  are  attending  meetings.  The 
whole  world  and  every  part  of  it,  and  every  condition  of  it, 
is  the  Path  leading  humanity  to  its  goal,  and  while  certain 
conditions  undoubtedly  assist  to  an  increasing  consciousness 
of  the  Master's  world,  that  is  because  there  are  people  liv- 
ing in  those  conditions  who  have  vitalised  them.   You  can  as 

162 


much  become  conscious  of  the  Master's  world  in  your  home 
life,  in  your  school  life,  in  the  playground,  as  you  can  any- 
where else.  But  do  not  let  temptations,  or  even  worldly 
affections,  draw  you  away.  There  is  always  a  tendency  that 
these  shall  become  difficulties  in  your  way  because  there  is 
a  natural  tendency  for  all  grades  of  matter  to  emphasise 
inertia.  Matter  always  wishes  to  stay  as  it  is,  to  avoid  dis- 
integration and  change.  For  this  reason  many  people  fear 
death,  but  you  must  try  as  far  as  you  can  to  avoid  that 
which  tends  to  hinder  your  growth.  People  sometimes  say 
that  it  is  only  natural  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  worldly  affections 
or  at  the  mercy  of  worldly  temptations.  But  the  word  "nat- 
ural" is  here  used  in  the  wrong  sense.  It  is  not  according  to 
nature  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  these  things,  but  it  is  undoubtedly 
customary  and  habitual.  In  other  words,  people  undoubt- 
edly tend  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  all  kinds  of  conditions  which 
hinder  progress,  but  you  and  I  should  remember  that  we 
should  no  longer  be  fettered  by  habit  and  custom,  and  we 
are  never  truer  to  nature  than  when  we  strive  to  grow  by 
breaking  the  customs  and  barriers  through  the  help  of  which 
in  the  past  we  have  been  able  to  evolve. 

As  regards  the  question  of  worldly  affections,  I  do  not 
want  my  readers  to  imagine  that  we  should  try  to  stifle  the 
love  we  bear  towards  our  friends  and  relatives.  On  the 
contrary,  the  more  love  we  can  manifest  through  our  nature 
the  more  quickly  shall  we  grow.  But  we  must  not  allow  our 
affections  to  become  selfish  and  make  us  weak,  for  this  would 
neither  be  nelpful  to  ourselves  nor  to  those  whom  we  love. 
The  most  loving  service  we  can  render  to  our  friend  is  to 
become  a  rock  and  support  whenever  that  friend  needs  such 
help,  but  we  cannot  be  this  if  we  allow  our  affections  to 
blind  us  to  the  way  in  which  we  can  become  truly  helpful. 
A  child  often  thinks  its  mother  does  not  love  it  because  the 
mother  does  not  give  it  everything  it  wants.  The  truest 
love  is  to  help  the  soul  to  grow:  selfish  love  panders  too 
often  to  the  body. 


163 


The  Decision  of  the  Monad 

The  Master  finally  observes  that  the  Monad,  which  is 
the  God  within  us,  decided  to  grow,  and  the  sooner  the  lower 
bodies  harmonise  themselves  with  the  inflexible  will  of  the 
Monad  the  sooner  will  the  will  of  God  become  accomplished. 
The  Monad  creates  veils  of  illusion  in  order  that  it  may  gain 
experiences  in  all  the  kingdoms  of  God's  nature,  and  the 
veils  so  created  strive  to  maintain  their  existence  even  when 
their  value  has  disappeared.  By  a  process  of  imagination 
they  strive  to  believe  themselves  to  be  the  reality  instead  of 
being  only  the  perishable  forms.  It  is  from  time  to  time 
necessary  to  retire  within  oneself  so  as  to  break  off  that  as- 
sociation with  the  lower  bodies  which  so  frequently  causes 
us  to  believe  that  our  lower  bodies  are  the  only  realities.  It 
is  for  this  reason  that  meditation  is  so  valuable,  and  I  would 
recommend  readers  to  adopt  some  such  scheme  as  that  I 
outlined  in  an  earlier  chapter.  But  remember  that  the  reason 
for  such  meditation  is  that  we  may  increasingly  learn  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  God  within,  and  the  vehicles  through 
which  that  God  within  works,  and  in  this  way  learn  to  give 
every  part  of  ourselves  its  true  proportion  and  value. 


164 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  SIX  POINTS  OF  CONDUCT—  (Concluded) 

The  last  of  the  Six  Points  of  Conduct  is  Confidence. 
We  are  told  that  we  must  trust  the  Master.  "If  you  have 
seen  the  Master,  you  will  trust  Him  to  the  uttermost, 
through  many  lives  and  deaths.' '  This,  I  believe,  to  be  a 
phrase  of  Alcyone's  own — feeling  the  magnificent  inspira- 
tion of  the  Master's  presence,  the  words  burst  forth  from 
him  in  gratitude.  For  the  Master,  once  known,  is  as  a  rock 
against  which  all  ignorance  and  all  doubt  are  shattered.  But 
though  many  of  you  may  have  been  privileged  to  have  seen 
one  or  other  of  our  great  Masters,  perhaps  you  cannot  re- 
member Them  so  far  as  physical  plane  memory  goes,  and  it 
would,  therefore,  be  more  difficult  for  you  to  bring  down  into 
this  world  the  knowledge  of  what  They  are.  But,  as  we  are 
told,  we  must  try  to  realise  Them.  "We  must  try  to  remem- 
ber that  They  are  in  fact  our  Elder  Brethren,  and  that  They 
watch  over  us  with  far  more  loving  tenderness  and  care 
than  we  can  possibly  realise.  If  we  cannot  feel  Their  phy- 
sical presence,  or  if  They  do  not  seem  to  be  watching  over 
us,  it  is  that  we  may  learn  to  rely  on  the  God  within  us  and 
to  trust  to  ourselves.  We  are  continually  in  the  presence 
of  the  Masters;  we  should  continually  be  relying  on  Them; 
and  we  should  never  forget  that  that  which  They  are,  we,, 
too,  may  become.  The  Divine  spark  is  in  each  one  of  us, 
and  we  have  the  duty  of  relying  as  much  on  the  God  within 
as  on  the  God  without.  Therefore  is  it  that  the  Masters 
sometimes  seem  to  be  far  away  from  us,  although  in  reality, 
They  are  nearer  to  us  than  our  nearest  friend  or  most  loved 
relative.  If  we,  in  the  physical  brain,  are  ignorant  of  Their 
individual  existence,   we   must  nevertheless  think   of   Them 

165 


and  try  to  remember  that  in  Their  perfection  is  the  promise 
of  ours.  Thinking  reverently  of  Them,  we,  in  fact,  pay 
reverence  to  ourselves — to  the  God  within  us.  We  must  be 
continually  thinking  of  Them,  trying  to  do  that  which  we 
think  They  would  wish  us  to  do.  In  this  way  we  create  a 
link  between  Them  and  ourselves,  and  through  the  channel 
thus  made  They  are  able  to  help  us.  This  is  what  is  meant 
when  it  is  said  that  if  you  do  not  trust  the  Master  "even 
He  cannot  help  you."  Remember  that  the  Masters  never 
intrude  Their  help  upon  people  who  do  not  want  it.  Free- 
will belongs  to  us  all,  and  if  we  do  not  want  any  help  it  is 
not  obtruded  upon  us.  In  other  words,  if  we  do  not  make 
our  share  of  the  channel,  They  will  not  make  it  for  us.  So 
if  we  want  Their  guidance  and  direction,  we  must  show 
that  we  want  it  by  making  a  channel  towards  Them  through 
our  endeavour  to  become  like  Them. 

Trust  in  the  Master 

We  are  also  told  that  we  must  trust  the  Master.  You 
may  perhaps  wonder  how  it  is  possible  to  trust  Those  whom 
you  do  not  remember  to  have  seen.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Masters  are,  in  reality,  the  embodied  examples  of  what  we 
ourselves  shall  one  day  become.  Once  They  were  as  we  are 
now.  And  by  Their  strength  and  unwavering  determina- 
tion to  help  the  world,  They  developed  the  God  within  Them 
until  it  shone  out  undimmed  by  selfishness  and  separateness. 
Having  fully  awakened  Their  Higher  Selves,  They  are  now 
ready  to  help  us  to  awaken  ours,  so  that  in  trusting  Them,  we 
are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  trusting  ourselves.  All  that  is  best  in 
us  They  are  and  much  more,  and  in  reality  there  is  no  separa- 
tion between  the  God  within  and  the  God  outside  us.  Every 
kindly  action  we  perform,  every  effort  we  make  in  the  di- 
rection of  unselfishness,  every  means  we  employ  to  develop 
our  mental,  emotional,  and  physical  bodies  for  service,  are 
so  many  signs  of  our  trust  in  the  Master.  If  we  trust  our 
Higher  Selves,  we  trust  the  Master.  "Unless  there  is  per- 
fect  trust,   there   cannot  be   the   perfect  flow   of   love   and 

166 


power.' '  This  means  that  unless  we  are  determined  to  give 
up  all  selfishness  for  the  sake  of  helping  the  world,  we  shall 
not  be  as  younger  brothers  to  the  Elder  Brothers  of  human- 
ity. We  must  strive  to  become  one  in  nature  with  Them,  if 
there  is  to  be  the  uninterrupted  flow  of  love  and  power  from 
Them  to  us.  Every  selfish  thought,  every  indulgence  of  the 
lower  nature,  is  as  a  little  barrier  which  intercepts  the 
stream.  To  trust  the  Master  means  to  know  Him  to  be  that 
which  in  our  heart  of  hearts  we  hope  some  day  to  become. 
We,  therefore,  think  of  Him  as  living  the  ideals  towards 
which  we  can  only  aspire,  and  we  must  try  to  use  our  imag- 
ination in  discovering  what  They  might  say,  or  do,  or  think, 
under  the  various  circumstances  in  which  we  find  ourselves 
in  the  lower  world.  To  trust  Them,  therefore,  means  to 
know  Them  as  living  examples  of  the  higher  Self  in  man,  in 
whose  form  and  nature  we  must  strive  to  fashion  ourselves. 

The  God  Within  Us 

We  are  also  told  to  trust  ourselves.  To  many  this 
will  seem  a  strange  piece  of  advice.  "You  say  you  know 
yourself  too  well  ?  If  you  feel  so,  you  do  not  know  yourself ; 
you  know  only  the  weak  outer  husk,  which  has  fallen  often 
into  the  mire.  But  you — the  real  you — you  are  a  spark  of 
God's  own  fire,  and  God,  who  is  Almighty,  is  in  you,  and  be- 
cause of  that  there  is  nothing  which  you  cannot  do  if  you 
will."  I  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  believe  this,  because  we 
identify  ourselves  so  much  with  our  lower  bodies  that  we 
continually  think  that  we  are  the  lower  bodies.  When  we 
say,  "I  think,"  or  "I  feel,"  or  "I  do  this  or  that,"  we  iden- 
tify ourselves  with  the  feeling,  with  the  thought,  with  the 
act,  although  we  are  continually  being  told  that  the  lower 
bodies  must  be  servants  and  not  masters.  We  have  contin- 
ually to  realise  that  the  God  within  us  is  trying  to 
work  through  these  lower  bodies,  and  it  is  in  the  difficulty 
of  getting  control  over  them  that  the  confusion  arises.  The 
real  you,  as  the  Master  says;  is  "a  spark  of  God's  own  fire," 
and  * '  God,  who  is  Almighty,  is  within  you. ' '    When  you  say, 

167 


"I  cannot/ '  it  means  that  the  lower  self  is,  for  the  moment, 
getting  the  upper  hand  again.  Feelings,  thoughts,  actions, 
pass  away;  only  you  remain.  That,  indeed,  is  the  test.  All 
that  grows  stronger  day  by  day,  and  becomes  more  and  more 
permanent,  is  likely  to  be  the  sign  of  the  God  within  you  be- 
ginning to  dominate  the  bodies  which  He  has  put  forth  in 
order  to  come  into  contact  with  the  various  experiences  these 
lower  worlds  afford.  All  that  gives  you  an  increasing  power 
of  love,  an  increasing  power  of  unselfishness,  an  increasing 
power  of  service,  is  the  God  within  you ;  the  rest  which,  from 
time  to  time  seems  to  dominate  you  so  entirely,  not  only  will 
not  last,  but  cannot  satisfy  you  long.  The  more  you  help 
others,  the  more  you  want  to  help.  The  bigger  your  love 
grows,  the  more  you  want  to  love.  But  there  are  many  de- 
sires which  cease  to  exist  the  moment  they  are  satisfied.  In 
fact,  most  of  the  desires  you  have  are  but  the  toys  with  which 
God  trains  you  to  distinguish  between  the  real  and  the  unreal. 
He  shows  you,  by  letting  you  have  the  things  you  want,  that 
the  real  you  does  not  really  want  them,  for  after  a  time  they 
cease  to  satisfy.  Thus,  by  gradually  turning  away  from  one 
thing  after  another,  by  a  process  of  exclusion,  you  find  out 
what  it  is  that  alone  can  give  permanent  peace  and  happiness. 
It  is  for  this  that  you  live  in  the  world,  and  the  alternating  joys 
and  sorrows  lead  you  gradually  to  concentrate  your  efforts  on 
that  which  endures.  If  you  did  not  have  these,  you  would 
not  make  any  effort.  They  are  signs  of  the  God  within  you 
struggling  to  know  Itself,  to  know  Its  powers,  to  know  Its 
divinity.  It  is  continually  saying,  "No,  this  is  not  what  I 
want,  for  there  is  no  lasting  happiness  in  this."  The  God 
within  you  must  grow,  but  from  time  to  time  it  may  think 
that  this,  that,  or  the  other,  is  permanent  happiness,  and 
therefore  part  of  its  very  nature.  It  experiences  that  which 
seems  to  be  permanent,  grows  tired,  finds  that  the  apparently 
permanent  ceases  to  have  power  to  satisfy,  and  so  learns  that 
that,  too,  is  not  the  goal.  Little  by  little,  it  draws  near  to  the 
realities  of  life,  and  finally  reaches  the  comparative  perfec- 
tion of  the  Master  who  has  learned  the  nature  of,  at  least, 
some  of  the  certainties  which  make  Divinity. 

168 


We  are  told  to  say  to  ourselves:  "What  man  has  done, 
man  can  do.  I  am  a  man,  yet  also  God  in  man ;  I  can  do  this 
thing,  and  I  will."  In  other  words,  what  the  Master  has 
done,  I  can  do,  for  I  am  God  in  man.  If  there  be  Masters  of 
the  Wisdom,  I  can  become  a  Master  of  the  Wisdom,  for  there 
is  but  the  One  Life  in  us  all  though  it  may  be  at  varying 
stages  of  unfoldment.  That  which  is  the  One  Life  in  the 
Master,  is  also  the  One  Life  in  me.  Life  in  Him  may  be 
more  perfectly  unfolded,  but  only  because  He  has  gone  further 
along  the  path  which  I  myself  am  treading.  It  is  most  import- 
ant that  we  should  all  feel  our  identity  with  those  in  front  of 
us,  as,  for  their  sake,  we  must  feel  our  identity  with  those  be- 
hind us.  But  the  difficulties  are  innumerable,  and  this  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  when  we  think  of  the  immeasur- 
able glory  of  the  goal.  Little  efforts  may  bring  forth 
little  successes:  greater  efforts  bring  forth  greater  suc- 
cesses. But  the  difficulties  of  the  path  lead  man  to  perfection, 
and  only  by  the  measure  of  the  difficulty  can  we  at  all  gauge 
the  magnificence  of  the  goal  towards  which  we  are  striving. 
We  can,  therefore,  in  a  sense,  be  glad  that  the  difficulties  are 
as  great  as  they  are,  for  if  the  obstacles  be  many  and  difficult  to 
surmount,  there  must  be  a  result  at  the  end  well  worth  all  the 
efforts  we  may  have  had  to  make.  Let  us,  therefore,  not  think 
so  much  of  the  intervening  difficulties  as  of  the  result  at  the 
end,  and  also  of  the  fact  that  in  us  lies  the  power  to  overcome 
all  obstacles,  however  great.  Difficulties  are  insurmountable 
when  we  do  not  want  to  surmount  them.  It  may  be  that  in 
any  particular  life  there  may  be  difficulties  which  we  cannot 
overcome,  and  we  may  have  to  reconcile  ourselves  to  this.  A 
man  may,  for  example,  have  certain  bodily  defects  which  pre- 
vent him  from  playing  games,  or  he  may  have  certain  mental 
deficiencies  which  prevent  him  from  being  clever  in  certain 
directions.  But  that  is  all  from  the  past.  He  can  become 
whatever  he  desires  to  be  in  the  future  if  he  uses  the  Divine 
Will  that  is  in  him. 

The  Nature  of  Difficulty 

I  do  not  wish  for  a  moment  to  suggest  that  the  task  is 

169 


easy.  It  is  not.  And  the  reason  is  that  there  are  two  con- 
flicting forces — one,  the  creative,  and  the  other,  the  preser- 
vative. There  is  the  force  of  growth,  and  the  force  of  inertia. 
Now  we  desire  to  be  active,  now  we  desire  to  rest.  Now  we  are 
full  of  energy,  now  we  are  tired.  If  we  did  not  know  what 
it  is  to  be  tired,  we  should  not  understand  to  the  full  the  joy 
of  energy,  and  if  we  did  not  know  what  it  is  to  be  full  of 
activity,  we  should  not  appreciate  the  contrast  of  rest.  But 
there  is  always  the  tendency  to  overdo  things;  sometimes  to 
be  over-energetic,  sometimes  to  be  too  lazy.  And  we  are  con- 
tinually.  playing  between  the  two — sometimes  over-emphasis- 
ing the  one,  and  sometimes  over-emphasising  the  other.  Rest 
we  need;  energy  we  need;  but  we  must  rest  when  we  need 
to  rest,  and  we  must  be  active  when  we  ought  to  work.  We 
must  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  either.  It  sometimes  happens, 
therefore,  that  when  the  difficulties  seem  too  much  for  us,  we 
become  inclined  to  let  everything  go,  and  rest.  This  is,  of 
course,  exceedingly  natural,  but  we  forget  that,  in  reality,  no 
difficulties  can  be  too  much  for  us,  for,  indeed,  there  are  no 
difficulties  wnich  we  have  not  made  for  ourselves. 
Every  difficulty  you  and  I  have  is  a  lesson  from 
which  we  have  to  learn  something  we  do  not  at 
present  know.  The  moment  we  will  to  surmount  it,  we  can 
overcome  it,  and  then,  ceasing  to  be  in  the  form  of  a  difficulty, 
it  becomes  a  force  for  action.  That  which  seems  so  difficult 
to  climb  becomes,  when  we  have  climbed  it,  a  place  from  which 
we  can  see  far  more  clearly  than  we  could  see  before.  Those 
who  are  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  see  far  more  clearly 
than  those  who  are  in  the  valley.  It  is,  no  doubt,  tiring  to 
climb  the  mountain,  but  the  view  from  the  top  is  generally 
worthy  of  the  trouble  of  the  climb.  The  Masters  are  at  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  and  we  must  trust  to  Their  assurance 
that  the  view  at  the  top  is  worth  seeing.  We  see  the  joy  on 
Their  faces,  and  we  must  try  to  realise  that  the  difficulties 
before  us  are  as  nothing  compared  with  the  joy  at  the  end. 


170 


CHAPTEK    XIX 

LOYE 

We  now  come  to  the  most  important  of  the  Qualifications, 
although  it  is  placed  last  in  the  book,  that  of  Love.  I  have 
heard  our  leaders  say  that  each  world  or  system  has  its  own 
distinguishing  note,  just  as  an  individual  has  his  own  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic.  I  have  understood  them  to  say 
that  so  far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  its  dominant  note  is 
love.  However  this  may  be,  it  remains  true  that,  provided  an 
individual  has  in  his  character  a  strong  touch  of  love,  it 
does  not  very  much  matter  if  he  has  a  large  number  of  weak- 
nesses which  are  continually  obstructing  him.  As  the  Master 
tells  us,  if  the  quality  of  love  is  strong  enough  in  a  man,  "it 
forces  him  to  acquire  all  the  rest,  and  all  the  rest  without  it 
would  never  be  sufficient/ '  This  means,  that  if  you  have  the 
love  nature  well  developed  in  you,  it  will  gradually  become 
purer  and  purer  until  it  cleanses  you  entirely  from  selfishness. 
From  the  love  of  the  one  we  gradually  proceed  to  the  love  of 
the  many.  From  the  love  of  our  own  work,  our  own  occupa- 
tion, we  grow  into  a  love  of  the  work  for  the  world  and  for  its 
service.  People  sometimes  think  that  those  who  desire  to 
serve  the  world  must  get  rid  of  all  personal  affection.  I  often 
hear  people  say  that  they  are  trying  to  rid  themselves  of  all 
affection  for  their  families,  for  their  friends,  so  that  they  may 
learn  to  serve  the  world  and  follow  the  Master.  They  forget 
that  it  is  only  through  love  of  friend  and  love  of  family  that 
we  learn  how  to  love  the  world  as  the  Master  loves  it,  and  we 
do  not  sufficiently  realise  that  personal  affection  need  not 
disappear — indeed  should  not  disappear — even  when  our 
love  is  so  strong  that  it  embraces  the  world.  The  Masters 
Themselves  have  Their  personal  affections.     They  have,  we 

171 


are  told,  Their  favourite  pupils  and  Their  little  circle  of  spec- 
ial friends.  And  why  should  They  not?  True,  They  would 
not  allow  Their  affection  to  interfere  with  Their  duty  to  the 
world,  nor  would  they  permit  Their  personal  ties  weakly  to 
countenance  wrong  lines  of  action.  Their  love,  whether  for 
the  individual  or  for  the  world,  is  a  strengthening  love — a 
love  which  gives,  and%not  a  love  which  demands.  This  is  the 
true  basis  of  all  love,  and  its  purifying  factor. 

Selfless  Love 

So  many  of  us,  in  loving  our  friends,  demand  that  they 
shall  love  us  in  return,  and  perhaps  we  expect  from  them  all 
kinds  of  attitudes  and  services  in  return  for  the  love  we  give 
them.  This  may  be  natural  in  the  early  stages,  but  the  grasp- 
ing nature  of  love  is  love  in  its  selfish  aspect.  Love  should  be 
as  a  great  river  of  force,  ever  flowing  outwards,  and  indiffer- 
ent as  to  its  effect  so  far  as  any  return  is  concerned.  Love 
in  its  lower  aspect  is  desire,  in  its  higher  aspect  it  is  will,  as 
the  Master  points  out.  Many  people  in  the  world  demand 
return  for  their  love,  and  are  hurt  if  no  return  is  given.  This 
is  like  demanding  payment  for  a  present,  and  shows  that  the 
person  has  not  yet  begun  to  purify  his  love.  People  who 
really  know  how  to  love  say  that  there  is  so  great  a  satisfac- 
tion merely  in  pouring  out  streams  of  love,  that  there  is  no 
inclination  to  consider  the  nature  of  the  return.  The  lesson 
of  love  must  certainly  be  begun  with  the  individual.  If  there 
is  anyone  whom  you  love  intensely,  make  a  practice  of  de- 
liberately brushing  on  one  side  any  tendency  to  think  of  the 
result,  so  far  as  regards  yourself.  Try  to  avoid  the 
least  expectation  of  return,  or  even  the  slightest  hope. 
Do  not  spend  an  atom  of  your  energy  in  thinking  about  what 
he  or  she  feels  about  you,  devote  all  to  the  process  of  outpour- 
ing. You  have  no  idea,  probably,  unless  you  have  tried  this, 
how  complete  a  satisfaction  there  is  in  the  mere  giving.  Every 
now  and  then  one  lapses  into  the  desire  for  some  kind  of  re- 
turn, but  by  contrast  this  desire  seems  sordid  and  poor,  and  one 
is  thankful  to  be  rid  of  it.    On  the  other  hand,  there  is  con- 

172 


tinual  interest  in  discovering  new  ways  of  loving,  and  the 
fact  that  you  gradually  grow  more  impersonal  as  to  the  re- 
turn, is  the  starting  point  for  the  spreading  of  your  love 
among  the  many  instead  of  confining  it  to  the  one  or  to  the  few. 
If  you  are  deeply  interested  in  work  of  any  kind,  you  will 
find  yourself  beginning  to  love  people  for  the  contribution 
they  make  to  the  work  in  which  you  and  they  are  engaged. 
You  feel  that  they  are  comrades  in  a  common  cause,  and  that 
feeling  of  comradeship  soon  develops  into  feelings  of  pure 
affection.  You  feel  that  they  are  working  for  the  same  cause 
in  which  you  yourself  are  engaged,  you  feel  that  they  are 
with  you  in  the  difficulties  and  in  the  dangers,  and  the  unity 
thus  manifesting  soon  shows  itself  in  its  aspect  of  love.  There 
will  always  be,  of  course,  those  who  are  specially  near  you,  and 
there  may  be  truth  in  the  assertion  that  each  soul  has  a  spec- 
ial affinity.  I  do  not  know  about  this,  but  I  do  know  that  on 
the  basis  of  the  affection  for  the  few  is  gradually  built  up 
the  power  to  love  the  many.  And  the  secret  of  it  all  is  in  ex- 
pecting no  return. 

If  you  are  looking  for  a  return  it  must  be  from  the  one 
or  from  the  few.  You  cannot  expect  a  return  from  the  many, 
and  so  there  is  a  barrier  between  you  and  the  possible  af- 
fection for  them.  They  cannot  give  to  you  the  return  which 
the  few  can  give  you  for  the  love  you  pour  upon  them,  there- 
fore it  is  useless  to  love  them.  This  is  the  inevitable  conclusion 
to  which  those  come  who  want,  in  some  form  or  other,  pay- 
ment for  their  affections.  I  know  it  sounds  brutal  to  put  it 
in  this  way.  People  will  reply  that  they  do  not  want  pay- 
ment, they  only  want  recognition.  But  true  love  demands 
no  recognition ;  it  is  satisfied  with  its  own  being,  and  with  the 
joy  of  its  outpouring.  The  river  is  happy  in  its  flow  toward 
the  sea.  So  you  will  understand  that  by  making  your  love 
for  anyone  independent  of  that  individual's  attitude  towards 
you,  you  will  lay  the  foundation  the  Master  wishes  you  to 
acquire  as  regards  the  whole  world.  And  when  you  reach 
the  level  He  has  reached,  you  will  probably  find  that  the  love 
you  have  for  the  world  has  not  made  you  forget  your  affection 

173 


for  the  individual ;  on  the  contrary,  that  individual  affection 
has  been  the  basis  of  it  all,  and  will  be  cherished  by  you  with 
the  deepest  of  happiness. 

The  Desire  for  Liberation 

You  will  notice  that  this  fourth  Qualification  is  stated  by 
the  Master  to  be  often  translated  "as  an  intense  desire  for 
liberation  from  the  round  of  births  and  deaths,  and  for 
union  with  God."  That  is  to  say,  the  idea  of  love  has  been 
given  a  personal  aspect,  as  if  through  love  freedom  were  to 
be  gained  from  the  round  of  births  and  deaths.  But,  as  the 
Master  points  out,  this  is  the  selfish  way  of  looking  at  love. 
"It  is  not  so  much  desire  as  will,  resolve,  determination.  To 
produce  its  result,  this  resolve  must  fill  your  whole  nature, 
so  as  to  leave  no  room  for  any  other  feeling.  It  is  indeed  the 
will  to  be  one  with  God,  not  in  order  that  you  may  escape 
from  weariness  and  suffering,  but  in  order  that  because  of 
your  deep  love  for  Him,  you  may  act  with  Him  and  as  He 
does.  Because  He  is  Love,  you,  if  you  would  become  one  with 
Him,  must  be  filled  with  perfect  unselfishness  and  love  also." 
Truly,  we  are  often  quite  eager  to  escape  from  weariness  and 
suffering,  but  while  in  the  earlier  stages  we  desire  to  escape 
from  these  in  order  that  we  may  enjoy  peace  and  rest,  later 
on  we  wish  to  get  rid  of  these  feelings  of  personal  weariness 
and  personal  suffering  so  that  we  may  be  free  to  help  others 
to  get  rid  of  them  too.  This  is  the  peace  of  the  Master.  He 
is  able  so  wonderfully  to  help  in  bearing  the  burden  of  the 
world  because  He  no  longer  needs  to  bear  that  burden  Himself. 
It  may  be  that,  if  He  wished,  He  could  cut  Himself  off  entirely 
from  the  world,  having  gained  liberation.  But  we  are  told  that 
if  a  Master  were  to  do  this,  He  could  only  be  free  for  a  cer- 
tain time,  that,  sooner  or  later,  He  must  return  to  share  the 
world's  burden.  For  there  is  the  one  great  Unity  which  binds 
us  all  together,  and  we  must  grow  together  through  pain  into 
joy.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  of  course,  while  those  who  have 
reached  the  level  of  the  Master  are  at  liberty,  if  They  so  choose, 
to  take  a  long  period  of  rest,  They  deliberately  renounce  that 

174 


rest  because  of  Their  love  for  the  world.  And  you  must  not 
forget — I  do  not  hesitate  to  repeat  this  over  and  over  again — 
that  this  beautiful  love  for  the  world  has  grown  out  of  Their 
unselfish  love  in  the  past  for  an  individual  or  for  a  few. 

The  Evil  of  Gossip 

The  Master  makes  a  suggestion  to  us  with  regard  to  the 
way  in  which  we  may  gradually  translate  our  love  for  the  one 
into  a  love  for  the  many.  It  is  obvious  that,  with  regard  to 
anyone  we  love,  we  should  be  always  trying  to  help  them  in 
every  way,  as  well  as  taking  care  never  to  do  them  any  harm. 
And  these  two  aspects  of  love  must  not  be  confined  to  the  in- 
dividual, but  must  dominate  our  attitude  with  regard  to  the 
outside  world.  As  far  as  the  duty  of  doing  no  harm  is  con- 
cerned, the  Master  gives  three  examples  of  doing  harm  which 
are  very  common.  First,  gossip.  "See  what  gossip  does.  It 
begins  with  evil  thought,  and  that  in  itself  is  a  crime.  For  in 
everyone  and  in  everything  there  is  good ;  in  everyone  and  in 
everything  there  is  evil.  Either  of  these  we  can  strengthen 
by  thinking  of  it,  and  in  this  way  we  can  help  or  hinder  evolu- 
tion we  can  do  the  will  of  the  Logos  or  we  can  resist  Him." 
Obviously  we  cannot  have  evil  thoughts  with  regard  to  any- 
one we  love,  but  we  often  have  evil  thoughts  with  regard  to 
other  people,  and  we  must  try  to  think  of  the  way  in  which 
we  love  the  one,  so  that  we  may  reproduce  the  features  of 
that  love  in  our  attitude  towards  the  many.  "In  every  one 
and  in  everything/7  as  the  Master  says,  "there  is  good,"  and 
if  we  think  of  the  good  in  an  individual  we  strengthen  the 
good  in  him,  while  if  we  think  of  the  weakness,  we  strengthen 
that  weakness.  Try  to  imagine  that  good  and  weakness  are 
continually  struggling  within  a  man's  nature,  each  trying  to 
elbow  the  other  out  of  the  way.  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  try 
to  make  good  so  strong  that  it  gradually  edges  the  weakness 
right  out  of  the  individual's  nature  altogether.  The  good 
in  a  man  thus  becomes  so  big  that  there  is  no  room  left  for 
weakness,  and  we  make  the  good  part  of  a  man's  nature  bigger 
and  bigger  as  we  think  about  it.    I  have  noticed  this,  partic- 

175 


ularly  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Besant.  People  sometimes  say  that 
she  is  very  easily  deceived  because  she  always  idealises  people. 
I  believe  it  to  be  true  that  she  sometimes  is  deceived,  although 
I  have  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  she  is  quite  aware  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  she  is  being  deceived.  But  I  am  quite  clear 
that  the  fact  that  she  does  idealise  people  helps  those  people 
enormously,  for  in  the  process  of  idealising  them  she  is 
strengthening  all  that  is  best  in  them.  It  is  as  if  she  were 
pouring  her  force  into  the  better  nature  of  those  with  whom 
she  comes  into  contact  so  that  it  gradually  pushes  the  weak- 
nesses out  of  the  way.  No  doubt  the  weaknesses  come  back, 
because  the  man's  own  nature  is  not  yet  strong  enough  to  give 
them  their  permanent  conge.  But  their  power  has  been 
broken,  and,  if  only  the  individual  would  take  advantage  of 
this  fact,  it  will  not  be  so  difficult  for  him  to  complete  the  as- 
cendency of  his  higher  nature.  The  fact  that  'Mrs.  Besant 
idealises  people  forces  them  to  show  the  better  side  of  their 
natures,  at  least  while  they  are  with  her.  This  tendency  begets 
a  habit,  and  if  an  individual  really  means  business  this  little 
beginning  of  a  habit  is  of  enormous  importance  to  him. 

That  which  Mrs.  Besant  does  on  a  very  big  scale,  we  can 
do  on  a  smaller  scale.  If  an  individual  is  to  be  trustworthy,  we 
must  begin  by  trusting  him.  Trust  needs  two  people,  one  to 
trust,  the  other  to  be  trusted.  We  must  do  our  share  with  re- 
gard to  others  and  trust  them  to  the  very  greatest  possible  ex- 
tent, because  in  so  doing  we  strengthen  in  them  their  power 
to  be  trustworthy.  The  Master  points  out  that  if  we  think  of 
the  evil  in  another,  we  not  only  intensify  fevil  in  our  neigh- 
borhood, but  we  strengthen  the  evil  in  the  individual  about 
whom  we  are  thinking,  and  create  within  ourselves  a  greater 
capacity  for  evil  thought.  It  very  often  happens,  of  course, 
that  the  evil  we  think  does  not  in  reality  exist,  and  then  our 
imagination  is  a  temptation  in  the  way  of  the  individual  about 
whom  we  have  thought  wrongly.  As  the  Master  says:  "your 
wicked  thought  tempts  your  brother  to  do  wrong,  for  if  he 
is  not  yet  perfect  you  may  make  him  that  which  you  have 
thought  him."    Thus,  if  we  gossip  about  people  it  is  evident 

176 


that  we  are  filling  our  neighborhood  with  evil  thought  and  so, 
as  the  Master  points  out:  "you  are  adding  to  the  sorrow  of 
the  world. ' ' 

The  Master  explains  that,  in  addition  to  thinking  evil 
things,  whether  they  exist  or  not  in  reality,  "the  gossip  tries 
with  all  his  might  to  make  other  men  partners  in  his  crime." 
It  is  curious  how  people  enjoy  meeting  together  to  talk  over 
the  defects  of  other  people,  entirely  oblivious,  it  would  seem,  of 
the  fact  that  there  are  other  people  elsewhere  meeting  to- 
gether talking  over  their  defects  also !  You  must  not  imagine 
that  others  spare  you  if  you  do  not  spare  them.  So  if  you 
have  been  gossiping  unkindly  about  other  people,  the  next 
time  you  walk  through  the  streets  and  meet  your  friends,  just 
imagine  to  yourself  that  they  have  been  saying  all  kinds  of 
cruel  things  about  you,  as  you  have  been  saying  all  kinds 
of  cruel  things  about  them.  I  have  not  much  time  myself 
for  gossip,  but  I  have  gossiped  a  good  deal  in  the  past,  and 
when  I  began  to  consider  the  evil  of  it  I  used,  deliberately, 
after  having  fallen  into  a  little  period  of  gossip,  to  imagine 
the  various  friends  whom  I  met  to  have  been  also  indulging 
in  the  same  failing.  No  doubt  I  ought  not  to  have  imagined 
this  about  them,  but  there  was  one  advantage  about  it,  namely, 
that  it  made  me  very  uncomfortable,  for  I  began  to  wonder 
what  kind  of  things  they  said  about  me,  and  then,  in  addition 
to  wonder,  whether,  perhaps,  after  all,  those  things  might  not 
be  true !  Then  I  determined  that  in  my  own  nature  I  would 
try  to  avoid  giving  any  foundation  for  such  gossip,  and  so,  by 
degrees,  I  found  a  disinclination  within  me  to  gossip  about 
other  people.  The  best  way  to  avoid  gossip  is  to  have  no  time 
for  it.  It  is  only  lazy  people  who  gossip,  and  if  you  occupy 
yourself  with  healthy  work  and  with  healthy  amusements,  you 
will  not  care  for  gossip.  "Never  speak  ill  of  anyone;  refuse 
to  listen  when  anyone  else  speaks  ill  of  another,  but  gently 
say:  *  Perhaps  this  is  not  true,  and  even  if  it  is,  it  is  kinder 
not  to  speak  of  it.'  " 


177 


CHAPTER    XX 

SINS  AGAINST  LOVE 

The  second  sin  to  which  the  Master  refers  is  the  sin  of 
cruelty,  and  He  divides  cruelty  into  intentional  and  uninten- 
tional cruelty.  As  regards  the  former,  one  can  hardly  imagine, 
as  the  Master  says,  that  any  one  could  be  deliberately  cruel 
to  any  living  thing,  but  you  will  remember,  nevertheless,  that 
in  olden  times  there  was  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  under  which 
people  were  tortured  because  their  consciences  did  not  agree 
with  those  of  their  torturers.  You  must  also  know  that  there 
are  people  in  the  world  who  deliberately  give  pain  both  to 
human  beings  and  to  animals  in  order  that  they  may  try  to 
find  out  the  source  and  cure  of  various  diseases.  And,  as  the 
Master  says,  many  schoolmasters  deliberately  give  pain  to 
their  pupils.  I  wonder  to  myself  whether  it  is  possible  to  say 
of  these  people  that,  behind  the  deliberate  cruelty,  there  is  a 
good  intention.  In  some  obscure  sort  of  way  there  may  pos- 
sibly be  a  good  motive  behind  the  cruelty,  but  it  is  so  ignorant 
and  so  distorted  a  motive  that  there  can  be  only  an  infinitesi- 
mal amount  of  good  connected  with  it.  I  should  not  like  to 
say  that  inquisitors  and  vivisectors  and  schoolmasters  are 
wholly  bad  when  they  commit  acts  of  deliberate  cruelty. 
Rather  are  they  at  so  low  a  stage  of  moral  evolution  that  they 
are  only  to  a  limited  extent  responsible  for  their  actions.  But 
the  actions  being  so  vile,  the  reaction  of  them  is,  as  we  know, 
a  terrible  one,  and  if  they  know  in  their  hearts  that  they  ought 
not  to  do  such  things,  then  their  karma  is  indeed  terrible.  As 
the  Master  points  out,  it  is  no  use  to  say  that  such  and  such  a 
practice  is  the  custom:  "A  crime  does  not  cease  to  be  a  crime 
because  many  commit  it*"  I  know  that  because  there  is  the 
halo  of  custom  surrounding  these  brutalities  we  are  apt  to  try 
to  excuse  them.    After  all,  we  say  with  regard  to  the  vivisec- 

178 


tor,  at  least  he  is  trying  to  benefit  mankind.  But  it  is  a 
selfish  mankind  that  is  willing  to  benefit  from  the  suf- 
fering of  others.  Mankind  has  no  right  to  inflict  suffering 
on  others  in  the  vain  hope  that  health  and  happiness  may- 
come  to  itself. 

Vivisection 

You  may  be  told  that  certain  discoveries  in  vivisection 
have  resulted  in  a  definite  immunity  from  a  particular  disease. 
To  that  I  always  reply  that  however  much  you  may  stop  up 
one  avenue  there  must  always  be  another  avenue  for  the  work- 
ing out  of  karma  if  karma  remains.  The  dirt  that  you  pre- 
vent coming  out  from  one  pore  of  the  skin  must  find  its  way 
out  through  another.  What  the  vivisector  cannot  prove  is 
that,  though  one  form  of  disease  may  be  less  frequent,  disease 
as  a  whole  is  also  less  frequent.  We  have  our  scourges  in  one 
form  or  another  as  much  as  people  had  them  in  bygone  cen- 
turies. And  even  though  some  diseases  have  disappeared 
there  are  new  diseases  which  have  taken  their  place ;  perhaps, 
indeed,  they  may  be  the  old  diseases  with  new  names.  Be 
that  as  it  may  be,  the  question  is  a  question  of  morality  and 
duty.  Even  if  the  torture  of  an  animal  could  give  mankind 
release  from  suffering,  mankind  can  have  no  right  to  ex- 
cuse such  torture.  If  the  animal  voluntarily  chooses  to  inflict 
upon  itself  the  torture,  that  may  be  another  matter,  but,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  animals  are  not  consulted  before  they  are 
vivisected.  I  do  not  want  to  put  the  matter  in  the  shape  of  a 
question  as  to  whether  we  really  gain  the  benefit  we  are  sup- 
posed to  gain.  We  do  not  want  to  gain  so-called  benefits  in  that 
way.  We  would  rather  have  our  diseases  than  ruthlessly  com- 
pel animals  vicariously  to  suffer  on  our  behalf.  The  giving  of 
pain  is  one  of  the  great  sources  of  karma :  the  more  pain  we 
give  to  animals,  the  more  our  karma  binds  us  to  this  world 
of  sorrow;  and  whatever  the  conditions  of  health  that  we 
think  we  derive  from  the  infliction  of  torture,  they  are  over- 
whelmingly outbalanced  by  the  diseases  and  sorrows  which 
will  surround  us  from  that  very  infliction  of  torture. 

179 


Corporal  Punishment 

As  regards  schoolmasters,  there  again  the  argument  is 
that  it  is  the  custom.  ' '  Spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child, ' '  is 
the  hackneyed  phrase.  If  you  and  I  are  to  try  to  follow  the 
[Master  we  must  free  ourselves  from  those  dark  glasses  of  su- 
perstition with  which  the  average  individual  veils  the  realities 
from  his  eyes.  Many  people  will  tell  you  how  much  better 
they  are  for  the  fact  that  when  they  were  children  corporal 
punishment  was  administered  to  them.  I  always  reply  to 
such  people  that  we  do  not  know  how  much  better  they  might 
be  than  they  are  had  their  teachers  and  parents  refrained 
from  administering  corporal  punishment  to  them.  The  ar- 
gument is,  of  course,  silly.  The  infliction  of  pain  merely  has 
the  result  of  evoking  fear.  We  are  told  that  sensible  dis- 
cipline, of  which  corporal  punishment  forms  a  part,  hardens 
the  nature.  It  is  from  that  very  hardening  of  the  nature  that 
the  world  is  suffering  at  the  present  time.  We  do  not  want  to 
harden  the  nature ;  we  want  to  soften  it  and  make  it  sensitive : 
we  want  to  make  it  capable  of  far  deeper  sympathy  than  it  is 
capable  of  expressing  at  present.  Blows  may  possibly  steel 
a  man's  heart  to  indifference  as  to  the  results  and  effects  of 
competition  with  his  fellow  man,  but  we  ought  today  to  have 
passed  the  stage  of  callousness ;  we  ought  at  least  to  be  begin- 
ning our  entry  into  the  stage  of  co-operation.  We  do  not  beat 
flowers  in  order  to  make  them  grow  more  beautiful:  on  the 
contrary,  the  more  we  surround  them  with  tenderness  the 
more  beautiful  they  become.  A  child  is  also  a  flower,  even  a 
more  beautiful  flower  than  those  forms  of  life  which  we  call 
flowers.  Corporal  punishment  can  very  rarely  be  adminis- 
tered without  anger.  It  may  be  so  administered  in  exceed- 
ingly rare  cases,  but  we  cannot  allow  teachers  as  a  whole  to 
inflict  corporal  punishment  simply  because  a  few  people  may 
be  able  to  administer  it  without  suffering  from  excess  of 
emotion.  I  say  deliberately,  that  the  average  teacher  cannot 
avoid  a  trace  of  anger  while  he  is  caning  his  pupil,  and  such 
trace  tends  to  infuse  into  the  punishment  the  vulgarity  of  a 
personal  quarrel.     In  many  countries  corporal  punishment 

180 


is  seen  to  be  unwise  and  it  has  accordingly  been  abolished.  In 
England  and  in  India,  unfortunately,  the  old  procedure  still 
remains  j  but  we  are  doing  our  best  to  get  rid  of  it  and  to  give 
the  young  child  an  opportunity  to  grow  as  the  flower  itself 
grows. 

Some  Forms  of  Torture 

As  for  the  Inquisition,  we  do  not  now,  as  a  rule,  inflict 
personal  torture  on  those  whose  consciences  are  at  variance 
with  our  own.  I  say,  uasa  rule,"  because,  during  the  pres- 
ent war,  a  certain  number  of  people  have  had  truly  consci- 
entious objections  to  military  service  and  have  been  subjected 
to  iniquities  which  remind  us  of  those  which  stained  the  In- 
quisition of  the  Middle  Ages.  Perhaps  this  is  to  be  expected 
when  the  whole  world  is  angry  and  the  brutality  of  fighting 
has  gained  undisputed  sway  over  the  minds  of  men,  and  these 
conscientious  objectors  are  such  martyrs  as  were  the  early 
Christians  in  Rome,  or  those  who  endured  suffering  at  the 
hands  of  the  Inquisitors  for  the  sake  of  their  faith. 

We  have  added  to  the  list  of  tortures  many  forms  which 
were  unknown  in  the  earlier  days.  For  instance,  there  is  the 
torture  which  the  orthodox  inflict  on  the  unorthodox — a  tor- 
ture which  often  takes  the  form  of  cruel  ostracism.  There  is 
the  torture  of  contemptuous  superiority  which  many  rich 
people  inflict  upon  the  poor.  There  is  the  torture  which  men 
inflict  upon  women  when  they  proudly  think  that  only  those 
of  the  male  sex  can  understand  how  to  govern  a  country. 
There  is  the  torture  which  the  people  of  one  faith  inflict  upon 
the  people  of  another  faith,  as,  for  example,  the  attitude  of 
the  Christian  missionary  to  faiths  other  than  his  own.  Then, 
as  the  Master  tells  us,  there  are  those  who  go  out  intentionally 
to  kill  animals  and  1 1  call  it i  sport.  *  "  In  some  cases,  no  doubt, 
the  intention  may  be  good,  but  intentions  do  not  always  alter 
facts,  and  it  is  no  excuse  for  cruelty  to  say  that  it  was  com- 
mitted with  a  good  motive.  You  and  I  must  continually  judge 
for  ourselves  and  must  not  be  content  with  the  customary 
judgment  which  the  average  individual  accepts.    Many  peo- 

181 


pie  take  their  opinions  ready-made.  Most  people  hardly 
bother  to  think  for  themselves  at  all.  They  are  surrounded 
by  certain  definite  thought  forms :  they  live  in  those  thought 
forms  and  very  often  imagine  that  they  themselves  are  think- 
ing them.  All  too  often  when  some  one  says  "I  think/ '  he 
ought  to  be  saying,  ' '  I  have  got  into  the  clutches  of  a  thought 
form  and  the  opinion  I  am  expressing  is  the  result.'' 

Karma  Disregards  Custom 

You  will  recollect  that  in  an  earlier  part  of  "At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master,"  we  are  told  to  remember  very  clearly 
that  ourselves  and  our  bodies  are  separate.  We  must  also 
remember  that  because  a  thought  comes  into  our  minds  it 
does  not  follow  that  we  have  thought  it.  It  does  not  follow 
that  because  we  live  in  a  house,  therefore  we  have  built  it 
with  our  own  hands.  We  may  speak  of  ' l  our  house ' ' ;  it  may 
be  "-our  house"  because  we  have  made  it  our  house,  but  it  is 
not  our  house  in  the  sense  that  we  have  created  it  unless,  pos- 
sibly, we  have  designed  it  for  ourselves.  The  Master  warns 
us  that  " Karma  takes  no  account  of  custom";  also  Karma 
takes  no  account  of  the  fact  that,  in  reality  we  are  mainly 
occupied  with  soaking  in  other  people's  thought  forms,  and 
giving  them  out  as  our  own.  We  have  to  learn  to  think  for 
ourselves  and,  above  all,  not  to  accept  an  idea,  or  a  belief,  or 
an  opinion,  because  it  makes  life  easier  for  us  if  we  accept  it. 
Of  course  it  is  always  easier  to  travel  at  the  same  rate  at 
which  the  stream  is  flowing.  But  you  and  I  are  people  who 
intend  to  get  on  a  little  faster,  and  who  must  be  willing, 
therefore,  bravely  to  endure  the  curious  phenomenon  of  a 
stream  which,  though  actually  moving  in  the  same  direction 
as  ourselves,  seems  as  if  it  were  opposing  our  progress.  How- 
ever fast  the  stream  may  be  moving,  if  you  are  moving  faster 
than  the  rate  at  which  it  is  moving,  it  appears  as  if  the  water 
were  flowing  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  in  which  you  are 
going.  In  many  cases  people  oppose  you,  not  because  they 
themselves   are   not   evolving,   but   simply   because   you   are 

182 


evolving  more  rapidly  than  they;  their  rate  is  slower  than 
your  rate  and  therefore  seems  to  be  opposed  to  your  own 
movements.  "We  must  think  for  ourselves,  and  accept  nothing 
which  our  own  judgment,  made  as  independent  as  we  can 
make  it,  fully  and  unhesitatingly  accepts.  Persecution  is,  of 
course,  the  inevitable  result,  but,  as  we  know,  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs — whether  physical,  emotional  or  mental  blood — is  the 
foundation  of  the.  church  that  is  to  be. 

The  Master  reminds  us  that  when  opportunity  offers  we 
must  have  the  courage  to  speak  against  these  cruelties,  how- 
ever much  other  people  may  believe  in  them.  The  time  has  now 
come  when  certain  of  these  cruelties  should  cease  to  exist,  and 
the  only  way  they  can  be  destroyed  is  for  those  of  us  who 
realise  their  valuelessness  to  proclaim  the  truth  of  which  they 
are  the  distortions,  the  truth  which  is  to  take  the  place  of  the 
evil.  Those  of  us  who  are  trying  to  follow  the  Master  must 
remember  that  we  have  the  duty  of  proclaiming  the  truths  we 
know,  at  whatever  personal  risk,  or,  at  least,  of  proclaiming 
such  truths  as,  in  our  judgment,  the  world  is  ripe  for.  So 
much  for  intentional  cruelty. 


Unintentional  Cruelty 


i 


We  are  also  told,  however,  to  be  on  our  guard  against 
unintentional  cruelty.  As  the  Master  tells  us,  people  are 
often  so  full  of  thoughts  about  themselves  that  they  do  not 
think  sometimes  of  the  pain  which,  no  doubt  thoughtlessly, 
they  inflict  upon  others.  The  Master  gives  various  examples 
of  this,  which  you  would  do  well  to  study  and  think  about. 
Bemember  that  long  after  you  have  forgotten  your  uninten- 
tional act  of  cruelty,  its  result  may  still  be  lingering  in  the 
dividual  upon  whom  you  have  inflicted  the  pain.  A  careless 
ord,  a  look  of  indifference,  apparently  studied  neglect,  with- 
iut  any  deliberateness  behind  any  of  them,  may  often  be  the 
cause  of  many  hours,  and  possibly  days,  of  suffering  to  those 
whom  you  have  so  treated.  No  doubt  it  is  true,  as  the  Master 
tells  us  in  an  earlier  part  of  the  book,  that  these  people  should 

183 


remember  that  we  may  not  have  been  thinking  about  them 
at  all.  But  that  is  these  people's  business;  our  business  is  to 
be  careful  and  not  careless.  This  means  that  we  must  always 
be  deliberate  in  what  we  do,  in  what  we  say,  in  what  we  think. 
We  are  all  of  us  more  or  less  careless,  and  in  our  ignorance 
we  often  cause  unintentional  cruelty. 

When  we  realise  the  importance  of  giving  as  little  pain 
as  possible,  we  shall  try  to  gain  control  over  our  various 
bodies — physical,  emotional,  mental.  We  may  forget,  but,  as 
the  Master  says:  " Karma  never  forgets,  and  it  takes  no  ac- 
count of  the  fact  that  men  forget/ '  To  those  of  us  who  want 
favours  for  nothing,  karma  may  seem  very  cruel ;  but  a  dirty 
wall  does  not  become  clean  simply  because  a  coat  of  whitewash 
is  spread  over  it;  sooner  or  later  the  dirt  begins  to  show 
through,  and  if  we  then  give  another  coat  of  whitewash,  it  is 
only  a  question  of  time  for  the  dirt  to  show  through  again. 
If  karma  were  to  forget,  we  should  go  on  forgetting  too ;  we 
should  go  on  forgetting  our  unintentional  cruelties,  and  out  of 
the  forgetfulness  would  come  the  idea  that  we  had  never  com- 
mitted the  cruelties.  Were  karma  to  forget,  we  should  never 
learn.  So,  indeed,  the  memory  of  karma  is  the  greatest  of 
its  blessings,  for  it  obliges  us  to  remember  too,  and  so  at  last 
to  learn  the  lesson  and  to  profit  from  its  strength-giving  power. 

"If  you  wish  to  enter  the  Path,  you  must  think  of  the 
consequences  of  what  you  do,  lest  you  should  be  guilty  of 
thoughtless  cruel ty,"  says  the  Master,  and  while  I  know  how 
difficult  it  is  to  think  of  the  consequences  of  what  we  do, 
nevertheless,  that  is  the  lesson  we  have  to  be  continually 
learning.  It  is  a  hard  lesson,  but  a  very  necessary  lesson.  Af- 
ter a  time,  when  we  have  truly  learned  to  think  of  the  conse- 
quences of  what  we  do,  we  shall  see  that  only  kind  and  help- 
ful actions  are  worth  doing.  In  other  words  we  shall  see  that 
the  service  of  others  means  the  greatest  happiness  for  our- 
selves, and  that  is  the  lesson  the  Path  is  continually  impress- 
ing upon  us. 


184 


CHAPTER    XXI 

TESTS  OF  LOVE 

The  remarks  of  the  Master  with  regard  to  superstition 
are  of  extreme  importance  at  the  present  time.  We  must  al- 
ways remember  that  in  looking  forward  to  the  coming  of  the 
great  World  Teacher  we  are  looking  forward  to  the  advent  of 
One  who  will  usher  in  a  New  Age  to  replace  the  Old  Age  out- 
worn. Even  in  the  midst  of  this  great  war,  indeed,  because 
we  are  in  the  midst  of  this  great  war,  we  are  taking  stock  of 
the  kind  of  life  we  habitually  lead.  We  are  learning  the  les- 
son the  Master  indicated  in  an  earlier  part  of  the  book,  when 
He  said  that  " karma  takes  no  account  of  custom.' '  We  are 
finding  that  there  is  a  far  deeper  truth,  in  the  legal  maxim 
that  ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  excuse  for  its  breach,  than  we 
have  hitherto  been  willing  to  recognise.  Ignorance  and  in- 
difference are  seen  to  be  fatal  defects.  The  war  has  taught  us 
this  lesson.  The  war  has  taught  us  that  the  life  of  every  citi- 
zen, however  humble,  is  valuable  to  the  State,  and  that  we 
may  neither  be  ignorant  of,  nor  indifferent  to,  the  kind  of  life 
he  leads,  lest  we  imperil  the  welfare  of  the  community.  We 
have  discovered  that  innumerable  customs  which,  hitherto, 
have  seemed  to  have  little  harm  in  them,  are,  in  fact,  seen  to 
be  injurious  when  brought  against  the  background  of  a  great 
emergency.  We  are  beginning  to  realise  that  it  will  no  longer 
do  to  allow  riches  and  poverty  to  dwell  side  by  side,  with  the 
poor  hating  the  luxury  of  the  rich,  with  the  rich  contemptu- 
ous of  the  struggles  of  the  poor.  It  may  take  us  long  to  work 
out  what  the  true  relation  should  be  between  the  two,  but 
at  last  we  are  up  against  the  problem,  for  in  the  agony  of  the 
nation  the  poor  have  proved  to  be  no  less  its  comforters  than 

185 


the  rich.  We  are  beginning  to  see  that  the  reign  of  brute 
force  must  cease,  and  with  it  the  superstition  that  women  are 
inferior  to  men.  In  the  nation's  agony  we  have  seen  its  wo- 
men to  be  indispensable,  and  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  must  be  equality  of  citizenship  since  the  State  de- 
mands from  each  an  appropriate  service.  The  destinies  of  the 
State  are  in  the  hands  of  its  men,  women  and  children,  and 
the  elders  must  together  determine  the  conditions  under 
which  the  nation's  youth  shall  grow  to  their  maturity.  Fur- 
ther, we  are  beginning  to  realise  that  difference  of  religious 
belief  does  not  deny  an  identity  of  goal,  that  difference  of 
colour  does  not  mean  difference  of  quality.  In  a  word,  we  are, 
by  degrees,  shaking  off  certain  superstitions  which  now  stand 
between  us  and  a  realisation  of  the  common  brotherhood  of 
mankind.  The  very  word  ' l  superstition ' '  suggests  both  that  we 
are  still  dominated  by  and  that  we  should  be  standing  above 
these  lower  stages  of  the  ladder  of  evolution  which  we  are  so 
glowly  climbing. 

Superstition  Involving  Cruelty 

For  you  and  me,  however,  as  would-be  apprentices  in  the 
Master's  training  school  for  world  servers,  there  must  be  an 
oven  keener  discrimination  between  the  essential  and  the  non- 
essential. If  we  desire  to  learn  to  lead,  we  must  not  allow 
ourselves  to  be  lost  in  the  crowd:  we  must  make  our  way 
through  so  that  the  crowd  may  see  us.  The  Master  specially 
draws  attention,  as  you  will  notice,  to  the  superstitions  which 
involve  cruelty.  All  superstitions  involve  more  or  less  cruelty, 
but  there  are  certain  superstitions  which  we  ought  to  be  able 
to  get  rid  of  at  once.  The  superstition  that  woman  is  not  the 
equal  of  man  involves  very  definite  cruelty  to  the  State,  but 
we  can  only  work  against  it,  we  cannot  abolish  it  all  at  once. 
Further,  the  cruelty  of  sacrificing  animals  in  the  course  of 
religious  ceremonies,  and  "  still  more  cruel  superstition  that 
man  needs  flesh  for  food,"  are  superstitions  that  we  can  deal 
with  individually.    No  doubt  it  is  customary  in  certain  parts 

186 


of  India  for  animals  to  be  sacrificed  during  the  course  of  re- 
ligious ceremonies.  It  is  customary  in  many  parts  of  the 
world  for  people  to  eat  meat.  But  those  who  are  trying  to 
avoid  being  blinded  by  custom  will  endeavour  to  look  each 
habit  in  the  face  in  order  to  judge  for  themselves  whether  or 
not  the  habit  is  right  for  them.  You  will  remember  how  the 
Master  said  that  "though  a  thousand  men  agree  upon  a  sub- 
ject, if  they  know  nothing  about  that  subject  their  opinion 
is  of  no  value."  Millions  of  men  agree  that  meat  eating  is 
reasonable,  and  possibly  necessary.  But  you  and  I  must  ask 
ourselves  the  question:  "Is  it?"  Never  mind  whether  it  is 
necessary  or  reasonable  for  other  people ;  our  business  for  the 
moment  is  to  decide  whether  it  is  necessary  or  reasonable  for 
us.  From  the  Master's  instructions  on  the  subject,  we  know 
that  it  is  not. 


Attention  to  Principles 


As  I  write  these  words  I  am  thinking  of  the  hundred  and 
one  arguments  people  will  use  to  excuse  their  inattention  to 
the  Master's  directions.  Most  people  wish  to  become  appren- 
tices in  the  Master's  school,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  all 
training.  They  want  to  become  athletes  without  undergoing 
any  physical  discipline,  and  they  are  silly  enough  to  imagine 
that  because  they  can  find  excuses  for  not  going  through  the 
discipline  the  results  will  be  the  same  as  if  they  had  trained 
themselves.  They  will  tell  you  that  vegetarianism  is  all  very 
well  for  people  whose  circumstances  permit  them  to  be  veg- 
tarians,  but  there  are  occasions  under  which  it  is  wiser,  and 
perhaps  better  for  the  sake  of  the  work,  to  follow  the  ordinary 
custom.  Now  I  do  not  for  a  moment  deny  that  there  are 
critical  periods  during  which  it  may  be  necessary  to  follow 
custom.  I  have  heard  Mrs.  Besant  say  that  however  averse 
an  individual  may  be  to  vaccination,  he  should  not  allow  a 
very  wise  aversion  to  prevent  him  from  doing  his  duty  to  his 
country  in  her  time  of  urgent  need.  If  the  authorities 
insist    on  vaccination    he    had    better    allow    them    to    vac- 

187 


cinate  him.  There  are  in  other  words  supreme  momenta 
when  one  has  to  sacrifice  one's  own  individual  preparation, 
and  even  certain  lesser  principles  which  the  world  is  still  too 
young  to  understand  for  the  sake  of  the  common  good,  and 
for  the  preservation  of  the  greater  principles;  and  one  must 
gladly  face  the  possible  disadvantages  accruing  from  the  neg- 
lect of  certain  principles  of  life  in  order  that  one  may  be  free 
to  fit  into  the  plan  the  country  has  made  for  her  protection. 
The  lower  kingdoms  themselves  may  have  to  submit  to  tem- 
porary trouble  and  unhappiness  for  the  sake  of  the  mainte- 
nance of  essential  principles  which  can,  at  the  time,  be  pre- 
served only  in  the  ways  the  world  understands  and  trusts. 

But  generally  times  are  comparatively  normal.  It  is,  as 
a  general  rule,  best  that  the  individual  should  live  as  pure  an 
individual  life  as  possible.  It  is  only  during  supreme  hap- 
penings that  he  has  to  merge  his  individuality  and  his  indi- 
vidual principles  into  the  common  whole.  Certainly  when  the 
War  is  over,  each  one  of  us  who  aspires  to  be  an  apprentice 
must  endeavour  to  show  to  the  world  how  an  individual  life 
should  be  lived.  Those  who  still  take  part  in  religious  cere- 
monies, either  because  they  need  them  or  because  their  ex- 
ample is  necessary  for  the  weaker  brethren,  should  set  them- 
selves resolutely  in  all  possible  ways  against  participation  in, 
or  encouragement  of,  sacrificial  rites.  Also,  they  should 
be  vegetarians.  No  doubt  it  is  very  inconvenient  to  be 
a  vegetarian.  People  often  say  that  it  shuts  them  off  from 
the  amenities  of  life,  that  it  makes  them  a  nuisance  to  their 
hosts.  That  is  possible.  But,  surely,  we  have  no  right  to  in- 
flict suffering  on  some  of  our  friends  in  order  to  avoid  in- 
convenience to  others.  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  very  annoying 
to  cannibal  hosts  if  we  were  regretfully  to  express  our  in- 
ability to  eat  human  flesh,  especially  if  no  other  dish  were  pro- 
vided. But  a  man  must  have  certain  principles  of  conduct, 
and  if  we  would  be  apprentices  of  the  Master  we  must  have 
principles  of  conduct  just  a  stage  in  advance  of  those  by 
which  the  world  guides  itself.  We  know  that  within  a  com- 
paratively short  time  the  whole  world  will  be  vegetarian  (See 

188 


Man:  Whence,  How  and  Whither),  and  it  would  be  well  for 
us  to  have  the  privilege  of  leading  the  way,  realising  that 
leadership  invariably  involves  sacrifice.  There  are  a  number 
of  foolish  people  who  will  tell  you  that  vegetarians  should  not 
eat  vegetables  because  they  are  living  things.  It  is  curious 
how  people  who  have  no  special  principle  in  the  matter  at  all, 
want  to  push  others  to  extremes  in  matters  of  principle.  Hav- 
ing no  principle  themselves,  they  insist  upon  carrying  our 
principles  to  impossible  conclusions.  With  regard  to  this,  the 
sensible  attitude  is  to  support  your  life  with  the  help  of  that 
life  which  is  the  least  sentient.  It  might  be  better  if  we  could 
eat  rocks  since  these  are  less  sentient  than  vegetables,  but  rocks 
have  not  hitherto  proved  sufficiently  sustaining,  and  we  are 
compelled,  therefore,  to  go  one  step  higher.  I  know  that  plants 
are  sentient  things,  but  their  sentience  is  of  a  far  different 
kind  from  the  sentience  of  animals. 


The  Depressed  Classes 


The  Master  then  refers  to  India,  and  animadverts  on  "the 
treatment  which  superstition  has  meted  out  to  the  depressed 
classes  in  our  beloved  India.' '  He  observes:  "See  in  that 
how  this  evil  quality  can  breed  heartless  cruelty  even  among 
those  who  know  the  duty  of  brotherhood. ' '  Those  of  you  who 
know  little  about  India  cannot  be  aware  that,  from  the  oc- 
cult standpoint,  much  of  India's  suffering  is  directly  attribu- 
table to  her  own  treatment  of  those  of  her  own  people  who  are 
outside  the  pale  of  caste.  She  has  treated  them  as  "untouch- 
ables," and  yet  has  not  scrupled  to  take  the  lowest  of  services 
from  them.  In  other  words,  while  scorning  them  she  has 
used  them.  Such  an  attitude  is  one  of  the  greatest  crimes 
.gainst  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 
ut  remember  that  every  country  has  its  depressed  classes — 
those  who  are  oppressed  by  power  in  all  its  forms.  Every- 
where the  poor  are  depressed.  All  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
in  our  present-day  civilisation  there  survives  the  spirit  of 
brute  force.     The  man  rules  because  he  is  physically  the 

189 


stronger,  and  for  no  other  reason  whatever.  The  result  has 
been  the  depressed  classes.  Were  woman  associated  with  man, 
the  problem  of  the  depressed  classes  would  soon  disappear. 
Only,  while  woman  herself  forms  a  depressed  class,  nothing 
can  be  done.  Personally,  I  feel  that  if  we  would  tackle  the 
question  of  the  depressed  classes,  we  must  first  recognise  that 
we  cannot  do  without  the  equal  counsel  of  woman.  One  of 
two  courses  is  open.  Either  men  will  have  the  sense  to  recog- 
nise that  brute  force  is  played  out,  and  that  true  government 
is  impossible  without  the  co-operation  of  women;  or  efforts 
will  be  made  to  keep  women  out  of  their  duty  to  society.  If 
the  latter  course  is  persisted  in,  the  world  is  in  for  another 
period  of  terrible  suffering,  because  woman  suffrage  does  not 
rest  on  the  basis  of  justice  to  women  but  on  the  basis  of  justice 
to  the  State.  It  is  not  merely  that  women  have  a  right  to  the 
vote;  they  have  a  duty  to  vote.  We  must  face  these  things 
clearly,  freeing  ourselves  from  superstition. 

The  Master  says:  "Many  crimes  have  men  committed  in 
the  name  of  the  God  of  Love,  moved  by  this  nightmare  of  su- 
perstition ;  be  very  careful  therefore  that  no  slightest  trace  of 
it  remains  in  you."  When  you  read  that  sentence,  think  of 
the  Inquisition;  think  of  the  evils  in  your  locality  thriving 
under  the  supposed  sanction  of  habit,  of  custom,  of  necessity. 
Think  of  the  various  cruel  things  that  people  do  on  the  plea 
that  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  them.  You  will  remember  what 
the  Master  has  said  about  vivisectors  and  about  schoolmasters 
who  cane  their  pupils.  Then  say  to  yourself  that  you  will 
avoid  all  the  cruelty  that  it  is  possible  for  you  to  avoid,  and 
you  will  see  that  there  is  very  much  to  be  got  rid  of.  The 
position  is  summed  up  very  beautifully  by  the  Master  when 
He  tells  us  to  avoid  sinning  against  love.  That  really  is  the 
whole  point.  We  are  often  tempted  to  think  that  cruelty  to 
the  larger  self  is  inevitable  for  the  preservation  of  the  smaller. 
We  think  that  we  must  live  at  other  people's  expense* — I 
mean,  at  the  cost  of  other  people's  suffering.  Such  an  atti- 
tude is  the  result  of  the  elevation  of  the  individual  as  the  su- 
preme object  of  worship.    We  must  remember,  however,  that 

190 


the  family  is  the  unit  of  our  life  and  not  the  individual; 
and  that  our  task  is,  living  as  far  as  we  can  a  life  of  love  in 
the  smaller  surroundings,  gradually  to  learn  to  expand  it 
through  the  nation  as  a  whole. 

"Intense  Desire  op  Service" 

"You  must  be  active  in  doing  good,"  says  the  Master, 
"You  must  be  so  filled  with  the  intense  desire  of  service  that 
you  are  ever  on  the  watch  to  render  it  to  all  around  you — 
not  to  man  alone,  but  even  to  animals  and  plants.  You  must 
render  it  in  small  things  every  day,  that  the  habit  may  be 
formed,  so  that  you  may  not  miss  the  rare  opportunity  when 
the  great  thing  offers  itself  to  be  done.  For  if  you  yearn  to 
be  one  with  God,  it  is  not  for  your  own  sake ;  it  is  that  you 
may  be  a  channel  through  which  His  love  may  flow  to  reach 
your  fellow-men. ' '  I  think  you  would  all  do  well  to  copy  out 
this  passage  and  to  hang  it  in  front  of  your  bed,  so  that  you 
may  be  able  to  see  it  when  you  get  up  in  the  morning.  In 
the  words  "intense  desire  of  service,"  is  to  be  found  the  most 
powerful  qualification  for  admission  to  the  Master's  training 
school.  The  keener  the  intensity,  the  surer  the  admission,  and 
one  who,  as  it  were,  palpitates  with  an  intensity  of  desire  of 
service  and  who  is,  on  that  account,  ready  to  go  anywhere  and 
do  anything,  is  on  the  threshold  of  admission.  That  very 
eagerness  is  the  force  that  the  Master  will  be  able  to  use  in 
helping  the  world,  and  it  will  also  be  the  means  of  helping 
his  pupil  to  turn  away  from  all  the  weaknesses  which  hinder 
both  his  own  progress  and  his  usefulness  in  the  world.  You 
know  how  it  is  often  said  that  to  get  rid  of  a  weakness  it  is 
necessary  to  have  some  object  strong  enough  to  attract  away 
the  attention  from  the  weakness.  Attention  is  the  food  on 
which  thrive  both  qualities  and  weaknesses.  If  you  would  get 
rid  of  a  weakness  strive  to  starve  it  by  depriving  it  of  atten- 
tion. If  you  would  strengthen  a  quality,  feed  it  with  atten- 
tion. I  believe  that,  from  the  Master's  standpoint,  it  is  not 
so  much  a  question  as  to  whether  an  individual  is  free  from 

191 


defects,  as  to  whether  he  has  some  dominant  note  strong 
enough,  in  the  long  run,  at  least,  to  concentrate  attention  on 
itself  at  the  expense  of  his  weaknesses.  If  I  may  be  allowed 
a  personal  illustration,  I  would  say  that  such  self-control  as  I 
may  possess  is,  in  great  measure,  due  to  an  overwhelming  in- 
terest in  the  science  of  education.  I  have  an  intense  desire  in 
some  future  life  to  become  a  great  teacher  and  a  great  au- 
thority on  the  principles  and  methods  of  education.  I  know 
that  certain  weaknesses  I  possess  stand  in  the  way  of  the  con- 
summation of  my  hopes.  I  play  with  my  weaknesses  less  than 
I  otherwise  might  do,  because  my  desire  to  become  a  great 
teacher  demands  so  much  attention-food  that  there  is  not  much 
to  spare  for  the  weaknesses,  and  they  have,  therefore,  to  go 
more  or  less  without;  thus,  they  will  starve  and  finally  die. 
If  you  have  a  great  and  up-lifting  desire,  it  will  demand  at- 
tention-food. The  stronger  it  is,  the  more  food  it  will  demand, 
and  since  you  have  only  a  certain  amount  of  food  at  your  dis- 
posal in  the  shape  of  attention,  you  must  necessarily  starve 
something,  and  you  will  starve  your  weaknesses  because  self- 
preservation — using  the  word  "self"  in  the  sense  of  "Higher- 
Self" — demands  that  the  weaknesses  shall  go  to  the  wall. 


192 


CHAPTEE   XXII 

THE  GROWTH  OF  LOVE 

The  Master  wants  us  to  be  positive  and  not  negative.  He 
wishes  us  ever  to  be  filled  with  that  outrushing  force  of  love 
which  expresses  itself  in  "the  intense  desire  to  serve."  I 
wonder  whether  you  have  seen  the  beautiful  motto  Mrs.  Besant 
gave  to  the  Theosophical  Society's  Order  of  Service.  She 
said  that  the  Order  should  be  "A  union  of  all  who  love  in  the 
service  of  all  who  suffer" ;  and  if  you  were  to  go  into  her  room 
in  the  Headquarters  at  Adyar,  you  would  see  this  motto  in 
front  of  her  desk.  Only  the  other  day  she  told  me  she  thought 
it  was  one  of  the  most  useful  mottoes  to  have  about,  for  it  sums 
up  the  spirit  in  which  we  should  live.  You  must,  however,  re- 
member that  in  the  words  "all  who  suffer"  are  included  all 
living  things,  not  merely  human  beings.  As  the  Master  says, 
you  must  be  "ever  on  the  watch  to  render  it  "(service)  "to  all 
around  you — not  to  man  alone,  but  even  to  animals  and 
plants."  There  is  far  too  deep  a  cleavage  in  the  modern  world 
between  the  human  and  the  lower  kingdoms.  "We  are  over 
eager  to  unite  ourselves  with  the  higher  and  often  imagine 
that  it  is  possible  to  reach  the  higher  by  standing  upon  the 
lower.  We  think  of  our  own  progress,  our  own  personal  evo- 
lution, as  if  these  could  be  accomplished  independently  of  the 
rest  of  the  world.  We  think  that  if  we  avoid  offending,  ac- 
cording to  the  worldly  standpoint,  certain  moral  laws,  that 
each  inevitable  wrong-doing  will  be  forgiven,  and  that  if  we 
are  respectful  to  God,  He  will  be  generous  to  us.  I  am  not 
for  the  moment  saying  that  this  attitude  is  not  a  necessary 
stage  of  evolution.  The  idea  of  personal  salvation  has  its 
place  in  our  upward  growth,  for  it  helps  us  to  realise  our- 

193 


selves,  and  we  cannot  realise  the  larger  unity  outside  us  until 
to  a  very  considerable  extent,  we  have  realised  ourselves  as  in- 
dividuals. This  is  the  value  of  competition  and  of  many  other 
forms  of  individualised  growth  and  activity  which  from  cer- 
tain limited  points  of  view  seem  so  revolting.  But  the  world 
is  growing  out  of  competition.  The  great  war  of  1914  sounded 
the  death-knell  of  competition  and  heralded  the  advent  of 
brotherhood.  We  who  belong  to  the  new  age  must  live  the 
teachings  of  the  new  age.  We  must  try  to  understand  that  the 
process  of  evolution  is  the  gradual  expansion  of  our  capacity 
to  love.  There  are  some  who  love  but  themselves, 
and  although  the  world  has  reached  the  stage  when 
it  can  call  such  love  selfish,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  love  of  humanity  must  begin  in  the  little  home 
of  the  individual  self.  Some  love  their  families.  This 
is  a  more  expanded  form  of  love.  Others  may  love  the  com- 
munity to  which  they  belong.  Others  may  love  their  nation. 
All  these  are  stages,  and  the  greater  includes  the  less.  Finally, 
there  are  the  great  lovers  of  humanity,  who  love  the  whole 
world  because  all  is  an  expression  of  God.  But  the  lovers  of 
humanity  are  the  better  patriots,  because  of  the  wider  love 
they  possess.  The  patriot  is  a  better  lover  of  his  community 
than  the  individual  whose  affection  does  not  go  beyond  the 
particular  class  to  which  he  belongs.  And  so  downwards.  The 
Master,  who  loves  the  whole  world,  loves  the  individual  all  the 
more ;  He  does  not  ignore  the  individual  as  being  lost  in  the 
wider  love.  I  lay  stress  on  this  lest  people  should  think,  as  it 
is  inevitable  that  they  should  think,  that  a  love  for  the  whole 
world  is  something  cold  and  unattractive.  They  imagine  that 
such  an  individual  has  done  with  his  family,  pays  no  more  at- 
tention to  it,  ceases  to  be  a  loving  member  of  it,  that  he  has 
been  through  the  earlier  stages  of  the  growth  of  his  love.  It 
is  true  that  those  in  whom  the  love  of  humanity  begins  for  the 
first  time  to  grow  tend  to  forget  the  smaller  in  the  enthusiasm 
they  feel  for  the  larger.  It  is  quite  natural.  A  child  will 
throw  away  an  old  toy  for  one  newer  and  more  beautiful.  As 
he  grows  older,  especially  when  he  grows  quite  old,  even  the 

194 


earliest  toys  of  childhood  will  once  again  become  dear  to  him. 
And  so  it  is  that  while  we  see  in  the  world  the  curious  anomaly 
of  people  who  love  the  whole  world  often  neglecting  their  im- 
mediate families,  this  does  not  mean  that  love  for  the  whole 
inevitably  involves  the  abandonment  of  all  lesser  affections. 
The  temporary  abandoning  is  merely  due  to  temporary  lack 
of  power  of  adjusting.  Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau.  History  tells  us  that  he  utterly  neglected 
his  own  children.  Yet  he  wrote  "Amiel,"  in  many  ways  a 
wonderful  exposition  of  the  way  in  which  children  should  be 
trained.  The  more  shallow-minded  would  say  that  "Amiel" 
is  valueless,  because  he  contradicted  in  his  own  life  the  theories 
which  he  expounded  in  his  writings.  The  fact  is  that  Rousseau 
was  at  an  earlier  stage  of  a  larger  love.  In  trying  to  grasp 
the  bigger  principles,  he  temporarily  let  go  of  the  lesser  ones. 
In  the  course  of  a  few  lives,  Rousseau  will  realise  that  the  love 
f  the  whole  is  based  on  the  love  of  its  component  parts,  and 
hat  all  his  theories  will  not  be  really  true  until  he  applies 
them  in  everyday  life. 


The  Need  for  Understanding 


We  thus  see  how  complicated  evolution  is,  and  above  all 
do  we  realise  how  little  cause  or  reason  we  have  to  judge 
others.  The  conduct  of  other  people  very  often  strikes  us  as 
unwise  or  wrong,  and  we  rush  into  criticism.  The  criticism 
would  not  much  matter  if  we  did  it  as  a  warning  to  ourselves, 
but  we  generally  make  criticism  a  stick  with  which  to  beat 
those  whom  we  criticise.  Yet  we  are  not  true  psychologists. 
As  the  Master  says:  "Never  attribute  motives  to  another; 
only  his  Master  knows  his  faults,  and  he  may  be  acting  from 
reasons  which  have  never  entered  your  mind."  Every  in- 
dividual is  a  mass  of  enormously  complicated  machinery.  We 
find  it  difficult  enough  to  understand  ourselves.  It  is  im- 
possible to  understand  other  people ;  all  we  can  do  is  to  try 
to  sympathise  with  them  and  to  help  them.  The  Master 
brought  this  out  very  clearly  when  He  said :  * '  Each  soul  has 

195 


its  own  troubles  and  its  thoughts  turn  chiefly  around  itself.' ' 
It  is  true,  I  think,  to  say  that,  even  when  we  feel  most  con- 
demnatory of  another,  there  are  sure  to  be  extenuating  and 
explanatory  circumstances  of  which  we  know  nothing  at  all. 
A  little  insignificant  attitude  at  any  particular  moment  may, 
looked  at  by  itself,  give  rise  in  our  minds,  to  criticism,  but  it 
is  probable  that  this  little  attitude  has  causes,  possibly  in  the 
remote  past,  of  which  we  can  have  no  conception.  I  have  no 
space  to  give  illustrations  of  this,  but  you  will  probably  be 
able  to  work  them  out  for  yourselves.  At  all  events,  it  would 
be  well  for  you  to  remember  quite  clearly  that  every  time  you 
criticise  or  think  unkindly,  you  are  almost  certain  to  be 
unjust. 

And  if  we  are  unjust  to  those  who  belong  to  the  same 
kingdom  as  ourselves,  how  much  more  unjust  shall  we  not  be 
to  those  members  of  God's  family  whom  it  is  still  more  diffi- 
cult to  understand.  The  apparent  helplessness  of  animals 
and  plants  has  led  us  to  take  advantage  of  them  and  to  im- 
agine that  because  they  are  helpless,  therefore  we  have  the 
right  to  do  what  we  like  with  them.  This  attitude  is  a  re- 
flection of  the  individualistic  spirit  which  has  for  so  many 
years  been  dominant  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  "The 
weakest  to  the  wall"  has  been  the  principle  of  conduct  of  large 
numbers  of  people,  and  animals  and  plants  have  correspond- 
ingly suffered.  We  who  aspire  to  be  servants  of  the  Masters 
must  remember  that  God  loves  equally  every  kingdom  in  His 
divine  Empire.  The  time  will  come  when  the  animal  and  the 
plant  will  once  more  be  friendly  to  the  human  being.  As  it 
is,  the  animals  generally  know  who,  among  those  of  the  human 
kingdom  appreciate  and  love  them.  But  the  general  ill-treat- 
ment of  the  animal  kingdom  has  created  the  gulf  between 
human  beings  and  animals,  and  the  general  attitude  of  the 
animal  must  necessarily  be  one  of  distrust  towards  his  un- 
dutiful  elder  brother.  But  as  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  begins 
to  permeate  the  human  kingdom,  we  may  hope  that  it  will 
bridge  this  gulf  and  draw  the  warring  kingdoms  into  an  alli- 
ance similar  to  that  which  exists  between  the  superhuman  and 
the  human  kingdoms. 

196 


it  is  the  same  with  plants.  Many  of  you  must  have  re- 
marked that  flowers  and  trees  are  attracted  towards  certain 
individuals.  Plants  grow  the  better  under  the  hands  of  those 
who  love  them,  and  I  have  often  noticed  how  long  plants  live, 
and  how  happy  they  seem  when  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Mrs.  Besant.  People  sometimes  give  Mrs.  Besant  flowers, 
and  when  she  wears  them  on  her  dress  they  often  last  for  a 
very  long  time.  In  other  words,  they  have  found  a  home  and 
are  happy  in  the  home.  Some  day  the  world  will  indeed  be 
beautiful,  for  some  day  there  shall  be  a  loving  co-operation 
between  all  the  various  kingdoms  of  Nature,  in  which  the 
elder  shall  do  its  duty  to  the  younger,  and  in  which  the 
younger  shall  act  in  loving  co-operation  with  the  elder. 


197 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

LOVE  AND  SERVICE 

As  the  Master  points  out,  love  and  service  are  really 
identical  and  interchangeable  terms.  If  we  love  God,  we 
yearn  to  be  one  with  Him,  but,  as  the  Master  says,  "if  you 
yearn  to  be  one  with  God,  it  is  not  for  your  own  sake;  it  is 
that  you  may  be  a  channel  through  which  His  love  may  flow 
to  reach  your  fellow-men. ' '  That  is  why  the  Master  tells  us 
that  we  must  love  and  therefore  serve  all  that  is  in  the  world 
— men,  animals  and  plants.  Indeed,  we  must  serve  minerals 
too;  though  the  phrase  seems  perhaps  somewhat  far-fetched. 
But  all  who  truly  love  Nature  are  well  aware  of  the  wonder- 
ful lesson  the  mineral  kingdom  teaches  us.  That  minerals 
are  living  things  we  are  now  well  aware,  through  the  re- 
searches of  that  great  Indian  scientist,  Sir  J.  C.  Bose,  but 
all  who  have  an  eye  for  Nature  know  the  effect  a  beautiful 
landscape  has  upon  human  beings.  The  grandeur  of  moun- 
tain scenery  impresses  itself  upon  the  individual  soul  and 
makes  the  lover  of  Nature  feel  the  unity  to  a  very  marked  de- 
gree. The  power  of  God  becomes  deeply  manifest  in  the  rug- 
ged results  of  great  upheavals,  and  the  relentless  sea  speaks 
of  His  inexorable  Law.  To  use  a  phrase  of  Professor  James, 
the  voice  of  life's  eternal  meaning  "speaks  through  every 
kingdom  of  Nature, "  and  our  business  is  to  develop  through 
love  and  service  the  power  of  God's  message  in  the  various 
stages  of  development  of  His  all-pervading  Love. 

The  Living  Unity 

Those  who  have  been  privileged  to  pass  through  the  first 
of  the  great  Initiations  are  to  a  certain  extent  aware  of  the 

198 


living  unity.  They  are  able  to  merge  themselves,  at  least 
for  the  time,  in  the  external,  and  in  so  losing  themselves  they 
gain  a  feeble  glimpse  of  the  image  of  God.  One  who  has 
passed  through  this  experience  says : 

I  cannot  quite  explain  to  you  the  nature  of  the  experience  I  went 
through  on  the  buddhic  plane,  but  I  can  tell  you  of  its  after  effects  when 
I  returned  to  what  we  call  the  waking  consciousness.  When  I  awoke  I 
was  full  of  feeling  of  being  seff -merged  in  the  external  as  if  I  had  been 
distributed  in  a  nature  around  me,  and  that,  therefore,  my  consciousness 
lived  in  all  around.  Getting  out  of  bed  and  going  to  my  window,  I  looked 
down  upon  a  beautiful  lemon  grove,  the  trees  of  which  were  ripe  with 
lemons.  As  I  looked,  the  center  of  my  consciousness  seemed  to  spread, 
to  expand,  so  that  I  was  not  only  '  1 1 ; '  but  also  the  lemon  grove,  and 
the  gardener  who  was  at  the  moment  engaged  in  plucking  lemons.  I 
seemed  to  have  spread  and  to  alternate  between  the  external  and  myself. 
Now  I  felt  myself  to  be  the  lemon  grove,  now  I  contracted  into  my 
ordinary  self,  and  I  realised  that  my  task  was  to  live  and  love  and  serve 
that  some  day  my  consciousness  should  be  spread  in  all  around  me  with 
myself  as  but  a  center.  Curiously  enough,  so  complete  for  the  time  being 
was  the  identification  of  myself  with  the  lemon  grove,  that  in  the  person 
of  the  tree  I  seemed  to  experience  the  slightest  of  twinges  when  my 
lemons  were  plucked  from  my  branches.  Somehow,  it  seemed  a  pity;  it 
seemed  as  if  I  were  being  deprived  of  that  which  I  had  won  the  right 
to  enjoy.  I  had  brought  the  lemons  into  existence  and  they  made  me 
beautiful.  They  completed  me,  and  there  was  the  slightest  of  pain  in 
being  deprived  of  the  fruit  of  my  labor.  Going  back  to  myself,  I  knew 
that  the  tree  need  not  be  sorry,  for  its  lemons  were  its  love  and  its 
service.  But  I  knew  that  the  tree  could  not  be  expected  altogether  to 
realise  this.  The  question  then  arose  in  my  mind  as  to  whether  it  was 
fair  to  give  the  tree  its  pain.  It  came  to  me,  however,  that  only  thus 
could  the  tree  learn  its  dharma,  for  trees  have  their  dharma  as  have 
human  beings,  and  the  little  minute  of  pain  the  tree  suffered  was  well 
repaid  by  the  gratitude  of  those  who  have  learned  to  be  thoughtful.  This 
brought  me  to  the  point  that  we  should  help  the  lower  kingdoms  of 
Nature  far  more  than  we  do,  were  we  to  be  more  deliberately  thoughtful 
of  them  than  we  are.  An  act  of  homage  to  the  lemon  tree  on  eating  a 
lemon  may  sound  in  these  modern  days  absurd,  but  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  tree,  there  is  no  absurdity  at  all.  Who  knows  whether  trees 
will  not  produce  far  better  fruit  than  they  do,  and  will  be  glad  for  the 
fruit  to  go,  if  they  feel  that  the  pain  of  separation  is  but  a  payment  in 
advance  for  a  more  vigorous  life  fed  by  the  gratitude  of  man? 

Equally,  the  writer  pursues  this  theme  into  many  by- 
paths, in  the  course  of  which  he  shows  how,  while  sympathy 
begins  with  the  reproduction  of  the  feeling  sympathised  with, 

199 


true  sympathy  means  the  imparting  of  strength  to  endure. 
This,  indeed,  is  what  both  love  and  service  mean.  It  is  not 
usually  our  business  or  our  duty  to  bear  other  people's  bur- 
dens, but  it  is  our  duty  in  the  name  of  a  common  unity  to 
share  with  them  the  strength  which  shall  help  them  to  bear 
their  troubles  bravely. 

The  Essence  of  the  Experience 

The  Master  says:  "He  who  is  on  the  Path  exists  not  for 
himself,  but  for  others;  he  has  forgotten  himself,  in  order 
that  he  may  serve  them.,,  Note  the  phrase — "he  has  forgot- 
ten himself.' '  I  take  this  to  mean  that  he  has  learned  to 
merge  himself  in  others.  Only  by  merging  himself  in  others 
will  he  know  how  to  understand  them.  And  this  shows  to  us  the 
value  of  experience,  both  bitter  and  sweet.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  pass  through  all  conceivable  experiences,  nor  to  sympathise 
individually  with  all  the  world;  but  it  is  necessary  to  have 
become  acquainted  with  the  essence  of  experience.  We  must 
have  experienced  the  essential  quality  of  experience,  though  by 
no  means  necessarily  in  all  the  various  forms  experience  as- 
sumes. Experience  teaches  its  lessons  in  various  ways,  accord- 
ing to  the  varying  temperaments  and  conditions  of  human  be- 
ings, as  well  as  of  other  forms  in  which  God  has  expressed 
Himself.  When  we  have  learned  the  lesson  we  have  understood 
the  process,  and  it  will  not  be  difficult  for  us  to  recognise 
the  process  through  forms  of  experience  through  which  we 
may  not  ourselves  actually  have  passed.  The  actual  experi- 
ences through  which  we  have  gone  give  us  our  individuality, 
while  the  essence  of  those  experiences  gives  us  our  univer- 
sality. A  great  sorrow  may  teach  us  what  sorrow  really  is, 
no  matter  what  the  various  forms  of  its  expression.  If  we  can 
take  ourselves  from  "our  sorrows' '  to  "sorrow,"  the  lesson 
has  been  learned,  for,  if  through  our  sorrows  we  learn  of  sor- 
row, then  we  shall-  understand  sorrow  in  all  its  forms,  for  it 
is  the  life  that  makes  the  form.  So  we  must  always  try  to 
reason  from  the  individual  to  the  general.  When  trouble  comes 

200 


to  us,  we  would  do  well  to  communalise  our  feelings,  and  to  say 
to  ourselves  that  other  kinds  of  trouble  bring  such  feelings 
to  other  people.  We  would  do  well,  too,  to  realise  that  all 
the  little  difficulties  that  we  have  to  encounter,  and  all  the 
excuses  we  make  for  ourselves,  have  their  counterparts  in  the 
lives  of  other  people.  If  I  do  some  hurt  to  somebody  else,  I 
am  generally  able  to  find  an  excuse  or  a  reason.  Similarly, 
if  somebody  hurts  me,  he,  too,  can  find  his  excuse  and  his 
reason.  Each  of  us  can  explain,  and  in  the  explanation  we 
find  either  justification  or,  at  least,  mitigation.  Indeed,  the 
mitigating  circumstances  we  always  claim  to  exist  in  our 
own  case  exist  equally  in  the  case  of  other  people.  And  we 
would  do  well  to  remember  that  the  understanding  we  ask 
from  others  is  an  understanding  we  should  in  turn  give  to 
them.  But  misunderstanding  others  is  as  inevitable  as  to  be 
misunderstood  oneself,  so  in  other  words  if  we  do  not  con- 
tribute to  the  total  world's  happiness  such  share  as  may  be 
expected  from  us,  we  shall  have  great  difficulty  in  receiving, 
in  return,  the  share  we  ourselves  need.  Do  you  see  what  I 
mean?  If  you  want  to  be  happy,  you  must  first  put  happi- 
ness into  the  common  stock  and  then  draw  it  out.  You  can- 
not be  happy  independently.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  At  the 
Feet  of  the  Master  may  be  called  a  "gospel  of  happiness,' ' 
for  it  is  a  gospel  of  love  and  service,  and  only  as  we  love  and 
serve  do  we  become  abidingly  happy.  You  will  have  noticed 
that  the  Master  says  that  those  who  are  on  the  Path  exist  not 
for  themselves,  but  for  others.  The  indication  of  that  fact 
will  have  been  apparent  in  the  words  which  I  have  quoted 
from  one  who  himself  is  treading  that  Path.  He  exists  for 
others  because  he  has  experienced  the  unity,  and  once  that 
unity  is  experienced  it  can  not  only  never  be  forgotten  but  in 
course  of  time  must  increasingly  dominate  the  daily  life.  We 
are  told  that  at  a  higher  stage  the  process  is  reversed ;  so  that 
the  individual  draws  everything  into  himself  instead  of  feeling 
himself  merged  in  the  external.  I  need  not,  however,  deal 
with  this,  as  it  is  probable  that  the  majority  of  my  readers 
have  yet  to  experience  that  first  stage  the  nature  of  which  I 
have  already  described. 

201 


"He  is  as  a  pen  in  the  hand  of  God,  through  which  His 
thought  may  flow  and  find  for  itself  the  expression  down 
here,  which  without  a  pen  it  could  not  have.  Yet  at  the  same 
time  he  is  also  a  living  plume  of  fire,  raying  out  upon  the 
world  the  Divine  Love  which  fills  his  heart.' '  In  these  mag- 
nificent phrases  the  Master  shows  how,  while  each  one  of  us 
is  a  channel  for  the  expression  of  the  Master's  force,  we  be- 
come at  the  same  time  an  individual  fountain  for  the  water 
of  life.  Out  of  our  expression  of  the  unity  comes  to  the  world 
the  eternal  principles  of  the  Divine  Life,  while  out  of  our  in- 
dividuality these  Divine  principles  assume  certain  definite 
forms  whereby  they  may  be  the  more  easily  recognised  by  such 
individuals  as  naturally  respond  to  the  special  forms  through 
which  we  express  the  one  Life.  So  we  are  useful  in  a  two- 
fold way.  We  can  send  out  to  the  world  both  the  formless 
and  the  form.  Each  one  of  us  has  his  individual  contribution 
to  make  to  the  world's  happiness,  as  well  as  being  able,  to  a 
certain  extent  at  least  to  send  out  an  expression  of  gen- 
eral principles.  Each  one  of  us  can  be  at  least  something  to 
all  the  world,  but,  as  individuals  with  a  special  line  of  activ- 
ity, we  can  be  very  much  to  the  few. 


202 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

CONCLUSION 

In  teaching  her  pupils,  Mrs.  Besant  lays  stress  on  the 
different  kinds  of  training  which  we  need  for  all-round 
development.  If  we  are  to  tread  the  Path  successfully,  we 
must  not  merely  utilise  and  develop  our  capacities,  but  we 
must  also  replace  our  weaknesses  by  strength.  Under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  an  individual's  duty  is  to  pay  special 
attention  to  the  less  developed  aspects  of  his  character,  so 
that  he  may  gradually  attain  that  all-round  perfection  so  char- 
acteristic of  those  who  have  reached  the  Adept  level.  He 
who  is  strong  in  will  but  weak  in  wisdom  must,  for  example, 
strive  to  acquire  wisdom.  He  who  possesses  knowledge  but  re- 
mains weak  of  character  must  so  strengthen  his  will  as  to 
make  good  use  of  the  knowledge  he  possesses.  Similarly, 
with  all  other  characteristics  and  qualities,  the  growing  soul 
must  strive  in  every  possible  way  to  acquire  a  balanced  nature 
in  which  all  qualities  are  at  a  certain  definite  level  of  ex- 
pression, while  definite  weaknesses  have  entirely  been  replaced 
by  strength.  This  is  more  or  less  what  is  meant  by  general 
development.  It  is  of  essential  importance  for  young  peo- 
ple, and  might  be  expressed  in  ordinary  terms  by  stating 
that  there  must  be  a  good  foundation  of  general  knowledge 
before  specialisation  begins. 

On  the  other  hand,  each  individual  has  his  own  special 
contribution  to  make  to  the  progress  of  the  world.  We  are 
told  that  the  great  Hierarchy  which  rules  us  is  divided  into 
distinct  branches  of  activity.  There  are  roughly  three  main 
divisions — the  ruling,  the  teaching,  and  the  organising.  In 
each  of  these  divisions  there  are  Master-Experts,  specially 
trained  for  work  in  the  divisions  to  which  they  belong.  Each 
Master,  if  one  may  reverently  say  so,  has  not  only  acquired 
an  all-round  perfection,  but  has  also  developed  His  nature  in 


203 


accordance  with  the  special  dictates  of  His  individual  being. 
The  music  of  the  world  is  a  harmony,  not  a  single  note.  The 
very  beauty  of  the  harmony  depends  on  the  many  differences 
which  constitute  it,  provided  each  separate  note  be  in  tone 
with  the  spirit  of  the  co-ordinating  harmony.  Therefore, 
while  each  one  of  us  needs  to  acquire  an  all-round  develop- 
ment, specially  strengthening  the  weaker  parts  of  our  nature, 
we  must  at  the  same  time  remember  that,  as  individuals,  we 
have,  each  one  of  us,  a  special  message  to  give  to  our  sur- 
roundings. Within  the  three  great  divisions — ruling,  teach- 
ing, organising — there  are  many  varieties  of  work,  and  no 
one  should  feel  that  he  has  no  message  to  give.  It  may  be 
that  he  has  not  yet  given  his  message,  that  he  is  not  yet  ready 
to  specialise,  just  as  the  child  is  not  ready  for  specialisation. 
But  some  day  he  will  know  his  work,  and  if  he  realises  that 
he  has  special  duties  to  perform,  he  will  be  on  the  watch  for 
them,  and  so  grow  the  more  quickly.  Many  who  read  these 
pages  may  feel  that  they  really  do  not  know  to  what  line 
they  belong,  nor  to  what  special  sub-division  they  belong. 
Let  them  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  they  have,  in  reality, 
their  own  special  place  and  special  function  in  the  world's 
service,  and  that  in  due  course  they  will  discover  themselves. 
Each  one  of  us  will  become  a  specialist,  either  in  the  near  or  in 
the  distant  future,  and  the  more  quickly  we  learn  to  modify 
our  exaggerations,  to  replace  our  weaknesses  by  strength,  and 
to  bring  the  various  constituents  of  our  nature  into  harmoni- 
ous relationship,  the  sooner  shall  we  discover  the  special  place 
God  sends  us  into  the  world  to  occupy.  I  have  no  space  to 
pursue  this  subject  further,  or  I  would  suggest  in  detail  how 
it  seems  to  me  the  great  divisions  of  activity  express  them- 
selves in  various  ways.  But  I  believe  that  if  we  look  around 
us  intelligently,  we  can  begin  to  see  into  what  divisions  the 
people  we  know  well  are  gradually  sorting  themselves.  At 
first  we  shall  be  more  often  wrong  than  right,  but  with  experi- 
ence will  come  increasing  accuracy  of  judgment.  I  would 
add  as  a  final  word  on  this  subject  that,  if  I  learned  aright, 
the  specialisation  I  have  spoken  of  extends  into  the  highest 

204 


regions.  I  have  heard  that  the  dominant  note  of  our  world, 
for  example,  is  love,  expressed  in  a  certain  specific  way.  I 
can  imagine  that  the  dominant  note  of  some  other  world 
might  be  wisdom,  while  with  yet  another  it  might  be  will,  and 
so  on.  Whether  I  am  right  or  wrong,  this  field  or  study  is  ex- 
ceedingly fascinating,  and  invaluable  to  those  who  have  to 
deal  with  humanity  either  as  statesmen  or  as  teachers. 

Love  the  Inspirer 

In  the  last  paragraph  of  At  the  Feet  of  the  Master,  the 
Master  lays  down  the  nature  of  the  fundamental  qualifica- 
tions each  one  of  us  must  develop.  He  tells  us  that  we  must 
gain  wisdom,  but  not  for  ourselves,  rather  that  we  may  be 
able  to  help.  Then  we  must  gain  will,  so  as  to  direct  our  wise 
helpfulness  through  suitable  channels  of  service.  But  there 
must  also  be  love,  for  without  love  there  could  be  no  true 
will;  while  without  the  will  to  help  there  would  be  no  force 
stimulating  us  in  the  pursuit  of  true  wisdom.  You  notice  how 
the  Master  makes  love  the  inspiring  element.  Perhaps  this 
is  because  the  dominant  note  of  this  world  is  love.  Having 
love,  the  will  to  serve  must  inevitably  come.  And 
with  the  will  to  serve  must  come  a  longing  to  serve 
helpfully,  wisely.  I  might  be  asked  how  it  is  possible 
to  acquire  the  quality  of  love  for  others.  I  am 
inclined  to  answer  that  one  learns  to  love  others  by  grow- 
ing tired  of  loving  oneself.  One  becomes  weary  of  the  smaller 
self  and  turns  with  relief  to  the  greater  freedom  of  the  larger 
self.  Love  for  others  comes  from  within,  not  from  without. 
It  cannot  be  imposed  upon  us.  It  is  impossible  to  force  a 
child  to  love  other  people.  But  the  wise  teacher  stimulates 
in  his  pupils  that  fatigue  which  sooner  or  later  arises  from 
loving  themselves  alone.  For  some  time,  it  is  inevitable  that 
we  should  care  most  for  our  own  individual  small  selves.  It  is 
not  only  inevitable,  it  is  right ;  for  we  can  only  proceed  to  the 
wider  from  the  narrower  and  we  must  begin  with  ourselves. 
Later  on,  we  begin  to  realise  that  real  happiness,  depends  far 
more  upon  our  relations  with  our  surroundings  than  upon 
the  endeavour  to  get  what  we  want  for  ourselves,  indifferent 

205 


that  the  satisfaction  of  our  own  desires  may  be  bought  at 
the  expense  of  pain  to  others.  But  to  realise  this  means 
gradual  growth.  We  cannot  achieve  it  all  in  a  moment,  and 
I  would,  therefore,  repeat  that  the  only  way  to  stimulate  the 
love  for  others  is  to  encourage  in  all  legitimate  ways  the 
weariness  of  loving  oneself  alone. 

The  Result  of  the  Teachings 

I  have  now  come  to  the  end  of  these  studies,  and  I  think 
that  if  I  were  asked  to  sum  up  what  the  results  of  the  teach- 
ings should  be  for  any  individual,  I  should  quote  the  two 
verses  given  at  the  end.     I  reproduce  them  here : 
Waiting  the  word  of  the  Master, 

Watching  the  Hidden  Light; 
Listening  to  catch  His  orders 

In  the  very  midst  of  the  fight; 
Seeing  His  slightest  signal 

Across  the  heads  of  the  throng; 
Hearing  His  faintest  whisper 
Above  earth's  loudest  song. 
The  result  of  all  true  teaching  is  far  more  to  produce 
right  attitude  than  to  fill  the  brain  with  details  of  knowledge. 
The  best  teaching  is  that  which  establishes  on  a  firm  basis  a 
mind  trained  to  know  where  to  look  for  the  needed  knowledge, 
how  to  gain  such  an  attitude  as  shall  enable  the  individual  not 
only  to  direct  his  knowledge  wisely  but  also  sympathetically 
to  understand  the  thousand  and  one  motives  and  circum- 
stances which  lie  at  the  root  of  every  individual  existence. 
The  teachings  of  the  Master  should  help  us  to  acquire  an  atti- 
tude of  kindliness  and  of  eagerness  to  help,  while  both  of  these 
must  be  sufficiently  genuine  to  make  us  willing  to  undertake 
the  necessary  training  and  the  necessary  sacrifices.  It  is  an 
attitude  which  is  expressed  in  the  two  verses  I  have  quoted, 
the  attitude  of  listening  for  the  slightest  indication  as  to  con- 
duct from  Those  who  may  be  called  the  Perfect  Servers. 

The  first  verse  indicates  to  us  the  need  for  humility,  for 
realising  how  little  in  reality  we  know — however  much  the 
world  may  call  us  wise. 

206 


: 


If  we  would  be  truly  helpful,  therefore,  we  must  be  ever 
on  the  watch  for  hints  from  Those  who  possess  the  true  knowl- 
edge. The  last  two  lines  of  the  first  verse  teach  us  the  most 
important  lesson  that  we  must  never  lose  sight  of  God's  plan 
for  men,  however  much  we  may  be  absorbed  in  our  own  indi- 
vidual lives.  Our  own  lives  are  parts  of  God's  Life,  and  we 
can  only  live  our  own  lives  truly  when  we  strive  to  shape 
them,  adapt  them,  mould  them,  to  His.  Mrs.  Besant  has  often 
told  us  how  in  the  background  of  her  mind  is  always  the 
thought  of  her  Master,  with  the  result  that  everything  she  does 
is  influenced  and  coloured  by  that  dominant  thought.  We,  too, 
must  similarly  learn  to  keep  our  Master  ever  in  our  thoughts, 
because  the  Master  represents  in  embodied  form  our  highest 
selves,  is  the  Messenger  of  God  to  our  hearts.  If  we  cannot 
yet  think  of  any  special  Master,  at  least  we  can  have  the  image 
of  one  of  the  earth 's  Great  Helpers  ever  before  us.  There  are  a 
few  living  in  our  midst  even  now  whom  we  might  do  well  to 
enshrine  in  the  sacred  place  of  our  being.  Every  one  of  us 
should  be  a  hero-worshipper,  whether  of  a  hero  of  by-gone  ages 
or  of  one  living  in  the  world  today. 

The  second  verse  amplifies  the  first,  and  it  would  be  well 
to  learn  these  verses  by  heart,  so  that  they  may  as  frequently 
as  possible  come  into  our  thoughts  to  remind  us  of  the  true 
motive  that  should  be  behind  our  thoughts,  our  feelings,  our 
activity.  The  lines 

Hearing  His  faintest  whisper 
Above  earth's  loudest  song. 

teach  us  that  the  lightest  suggestion  of  the  Master  is  one  of  in- 
finitely greater  importance  than  the  considered  opinion  of 
the  world  in  which  we  live.  Those  who  would  be  pupils  of  a 
Master,  must  learn  to  judge  for  themselves,  to  think  the 
thoughts  the  Master  would  wish  them  to  think,  to  feel  as  He 
would  wish  them  feel,  to  speak  as  He  would  have  them 
speak,  to  act  as  He  would  have  them  act.  Public  opinion 
has  its  value,  but  the  opinion  of  the  Master  is  the  purest 
truth  for  those  who  know,  and  above  all  for  the  occultist.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  must  take  care  not  to  be  too  lazy  to  think 

207 


for  ourselves.  Laziness  keeps  large  numbers  of  people  from 
the  feet  of  the  Master,  for  either  they  want  to  be  spoon-fed 
by  their  elders,  and  to  receive  and  act  on  distinct  orders  as 
to  every  little  detail  of  their  lives,  or  they  grovel  before  pub- 
lic opinion  rather  than  take  the  trouble  to  stand  up  for  them- 
selves, and,  if  necessary,  brave  public  opinion  and  suffer  the 
consequences.  No  one  can  become  the  pupil  of  the  Master 
who  is  not  fully  willing,  indeed  eager  to  suffer  in  the  cause 
of  that  which  he  believes  to  be  the  truth,  however  much  he 
may  thereby  bring  down  upon  himself  the  execration  of  his 
friends  and  surroundings. 

I  would  specially  warn  you  against  the  very  common 
weakness  of  many  good,  but  not  spiritual,  people,  who  go 
about  telling  others  how  they  were  told  to  do  this  and  that, 
how  they  dreamed  this  dream,  heard  the  voice  of  So  and  So, 
how  Mrs.  Besant  or  Mr.  Leadbeater  has  specially  advised  this, 
approved  that,  recommended  this  course,  endorsed  such  and 
such  an  interpretation  of  an  astral  or  other  experience.  There 
are  many  such  well-meaning  persons  about  in  our  circles, 
revolving  placidly  in  theirs.  Let  them  say  what  they  will,  but 
for  yourselves  remember  Mr.  Leadbeater 's  advice  not  to  be- 
come the  center  of  your  circle.  People  who  act  as  I  have  de- 
scribed are  really  striving  to  persuade  others  that  they  are 
very  important  people.  They  seek  praise  by  trying  to  strut 
about  in  garments  alleged  to  have  been  made  for  them  by  per- 
sonages greater  than  they.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  their  remarks  are  generally  gross  exaggera- 
tions of  the  little  amount  of  truth  which  may  possibly  be  in 
them,  our  business  as  apprentices  in  a  Master's  school  is  to 
prove  ourselves  by  action,  not  by  speech. 

I  hope  that  the  Master's  teachings  are  as  precious  to  my 
readers  as  they  are  to  me.  "We  may  read  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  many  times,  but  we  are  only  beginning  to  understand 
it  if  we  find  each  time  we  read  it  afresh  that  we  are  learning 
something  new.  He  who,  having  read  At  the  Feet  of  the 
Master  does  not  long  to  read  it  again  and  again,  has  not  yet 
understood  its  message. 

208 


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